Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has sponsored a fundraising campaign to assist Ukraine in building a naval drone fleet to safeguard cities from Russian missiles launched from Black Sea warships.
United24, a charity effort founded by Zelenskyy in response to Russia’s invasion in February, stated that Ukraine needs 100 drones operating from the sea, each costing 10 million hryvnias (about $274,000).
The fundraising site said that since the invasion began, Russia has launched over 4,500 missiles into Ukraine, and “every fifth strike came from the sea”.
“We must defend the waters of our seas and peaceful cities from Russian missiles launched from ships,” Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging app on Friday.
“Naval drones will also help unblock the corridor for civilian ships transporting grain for the world,” he said.
Since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has carried out missile strikes from ships in the Black Sea and from Crimea, the peninsula Moscow seized from Ukraine in 2014 and which is home to the Russian navy’s Black Sea Fleet.
Russia has also used aerial drones, including Iranian-made so-called “kamikaze” models, to attack Kyiv and key infrastructure across the country.
Russia started blockading Ukraine’s Black Sea ports soon after the February invasion, including blocking the vital international export of grain. Three Ukrainian ports were unblocked under a deal brokered with Russia in July by the United Nations and Turkey to help ease a global food crisis.
Russia later suspended its participation in the grain deal after what it said was a Ukrainian attack on three of its Black Sea Fleet vessels late last month from a combined force of aerial and naval drones. Moscow later returned to the deal, which is due to expire next week.
“I am sure that millions of people will support this important area of Ukraine’s defence,” Zelenskyy wrote of the naval drone fundraising campaign.