Ukraine-Russia war live: Putin ramps up production of deadly Lancet kamikaze drones

A wounded local resident stands near her destroyed flat in an apartment building destroyed during a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine August 8, 2023. Credit: REUTERS/Viacheslav Ratynskyi

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the head of a state-owned defence conglomerate to increase the production of attack drones, as the drone war between the warring countries ramps up.

In televised footage of the meeting on Monday night, Putin was seen ordering the head of Rostec – which produces around 90 per cent of the equipment used in Ukraine – to increase the number of weapons being churned out.

Putin said Russia needed more Kub and Lancet drones, which have emerged as a thorn in the side of Ukraine’s advancing forces, saying the drones had proven “very effective”.

“It is necessary to increase the percentage of the production of the latest types of weapons. T-90 ‘Proryv’ tanks, and aircraft systems,” the Russian President said.