Ukraine's 'Army of Drones' Bonus Drives 31% Monthly Increase In Kills, Weapons Destroyed

More than 400 Ukrainian drone units are not participating in the military's 'Army of Drones' bonus point system, where rewards like state of the art equipment are given to those scoring the highest. 

As a result, Russian casualties and destroyed weaponry increased 31% from November to December as the Ukrainians competed to demonstrate who is the best. JL

Iona Cleave reports in The Telegraph: 

Three of Ukraine's most successful drone units said a Call of Duty-style points system was driving success and recruitment. The 400 units taking part are ranked on a leader board. Known as the Army of Drones Bonus, the incentive scheme resembles a multiplayer video game: more kills and more destroyed enemy equipment equals more points. Wounding a Russian soldier is 8 points. Killing one is 12, a drone operator scores 25. Destroying a tank? 40. A multiple-launch rocket system? 50. The biggest prize is reserved for capturing a soldier using a drone – 120. In December, according to e-points results, Ukraine killed or wounded 33,000 Russian troops and hit more than 100,000 enemy targets. That was a 31% increase on November’s results. “It motivates us as a unit to constantly be better.”

The Ukrainian drone zeroed in on its outsized target. The Russian helicopter appeared in its camera lens just before the screen turned fuzzy grey, indicating a successful strike.

It was not luck, but the culmination of months of precise training for the drone operator to pull off something never before achieved: downing an Mi8 worth millions with a small flying machine costing a few hundred pounds and carrying an explosive charge.

 

The 59th Brigade of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces scored 100 points for the feat. Ukraine has gamified the war with Russia – and it’s working.

 

In interviews with The Telegraph, three of Ukraine’s most successful drone units said a Call of Duty-style points system was driving success and recruitment.

Known as the Army of Drones Bonus, the incentive scheme resembles the multiplayer video game series: more kills and more destroyed enemy equipment equals more points.

 

The 400 units taking part are ranked on a leader board. And, just as players do in Call of Duty, they can trade their points for rewards.

Wounding a Russian soldier is worth eight points. Killing one is 12, while a drone operator scores 25. Destroying a tank? Forty. A multiple-launch rocket system? Fifty. But the biggest prize is reserved for capturing a soldier using a drone – 120.

Every strike is backed by video confirmation and the e-points earned can be exchanged for extra weapons. Instead of medals, units can get fast, tangible rewards for their work, such as an extra bomber drone or a ground robot.

In December, according to e-points results, Ukraine killed or wounded 33,000 Russian troops and hit more than 100,000 enemy targets. That was a 31 per cent increase on November’s results.

Oleksandr, of the 59th Brigade, which ranked fourth in 2025 for killing Russian personnel and took eighth place overall, told The Telegraph: “We are waging a cyberpunk war. The future is now and drones are delivering it Terminator style.”

The number of points awarded for each target is decided by the military leadership.

Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s new and youngest-ever minister for defence, and the tech prodigy behind the Army of Drones Bonus, said: “We have built a system that increases unit effectiveness and helps defend freedom.”

For all its lauded success, the scheme has implications of dehumanisation, pushing the moral and psychological boundaries of those waging modern warfare.

A screen showing how Ukraine has gamified its war with Russia, allowing units to earn points that can be trading for new kit

Drones – or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) – account for 70 to 80 per cent of losses on the battlefield and the increasing reliance on killing remotely via a screen, paired with the instant gratification of racking up points on a leader board, could push soldiers too far.

However, those behind the bonus scheme insist it is a purely pragmatic effort to improve efficiency, inspire healthy competition between units and provide the military with real-time feedback from the front. It also ensures that equipment ends up in the hands of those who use it best.

 

A prototype version of the bonus scheme was introduced in August 2024. The Brave1 Market, an online weapons store, went live in April 2025, and its catalogue continues to expand. Units with higher scores can order directly from manufacturers and receive priority over high-tech weaponry.

Andrii Hrytsenyuk, chief executive of Brave1, said: “It is not just an Amazon for war, it’s so much more. The main goal is to reduce the delivery time of new weapons systems to the front line.”

The government-backed defence hub has managed to slash the time taken to develop, test and deliver new military technology from six months to one.

Mr Hrytsenyuk said: “The bonus scheme gives us trusted, verified information on what is really happening on the ground. That raw data is analysed and the feedback is sent to military and manufacturers to improve weapons.”

The scores are adjusted according to Ukraine’s shifting priorities on the battlefield. Killing a Russian soldier was initially worth two points, later increased to six and then doubled to 12 in May 2025.

The Brave1 military hardware website is said to allow Ukrainian units to order the latest kit quickly and efficiently

The reward for using a drone to capture a prisoner of war has increased tenfold – mostly in response to the need for prisoner exchanges – while points for tanks have decreased as they have become easier targets for drones, limiting their use on the battlefield.

The points can also be exchanged for ground robots, reflecting a growing demand for machines, rather than humans, to carry out risky tasks such as delivering supplies and evacuating the wounded.

In the future, bonuses will be created for using robots for logistical missions and naval drones will also be added to the marketplace, Mr Hrytsenyuk said.

He added: “We are regularly changing the number of points as the situation on the battlefield is rapidly shifting. Priorities change, Russian tactics change.”

High scores attract new recruits

Ukraine’s military has long been plagued by chronic manpower shortages. Desertion is high, hundreds of thousands of fighting-aged men have fled the country, and forced mobilisation is failing to replenish its exhausted front-line troops.

And yet, Ukraine’s highest-scoring drone units do not face such issues.

Oleksandr, of the 59th Brigade, said: “The modern generation are different from old timers like me. I like motorbikes and fast cars, they love video games and Minecraft, so we build social media campaigns around this.

“Each unit now produces its own content on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.”

The social media channels of drone units are flooded with high-quality videos of strikes, clipped together and set to heavy metal soundtracks.

Oleksandr added: “Newcomers definitely see this content and think: ‘I want to be part of a popular unit.’ Those at the top of the leader board are more attractive for new recruits.”

A hefty dose of competitiveness between units also helps to maximise efficiency and lethality.

Drones have proved to be a relatively cheap but deadly tool to help Ukraine fight back against Russia’s helicopters, tanks and ships - Reuters

A representative from the Lasar’s Group, who goes by the call sign Phoenix, told The Telegraph: “It is about competition between units, everyone wants to be on top.” He insisted it was all healthy because “we share the same overall goal”.

Phoenix’s unit placed fourth in 2025 and has become renowned for destroying high-value Russian equipment. One in five Russian tanks destroyed so far was hit by the Lasar’s Group, which has a tally of 2,190 and counting.

Phoenix said: “At the end of 2025, we had destroyed $13bn [£9.5bn] worth of equipment. Now we start on the next billion.”

He puts part of the unit’s success down to its personnel. Almost all are civilians with no prior combat training, but many had gaming skills or worked in technology. Phoenix ran his own IT company.

He said: “It helps us to attract personnel by having our name high on the leader board and showing off our successful hits in social media videos. People want to fight for the best, those in the top five.”

Credit: X / @RALee85

Artem Bielenkov, chief of staff of the 412th Unmanned Systems Brigade, known as Nemesis, told The Telegraph: “In terms of competition, the bonus scheme 100 per cent works.”

One of the newest and best unmanned forces, it consistently ranks in the top five on the leader board and specialises in using heavy bomber drones to hunt high-value targets.

The unit is responsible for 20 per cent of all confirmed strikes on enemy air defence systems in occupied Ukrainian territory, destroying equipment worth up to $3bn. Yet, Mr Bielenkov is clear about the drawbacks of the scheme, which is still ironing out some kinks.

He said: “In war we need to fulfil tasks, not just chase points. The leader board doesn’t always show effectiveness, just intensity. What is more important? To deliver the result needed or the result that is good in terms of points? It’s not perfect but work is being done.”

At its heart, he added: “It motivates us as a unit to constantly be better.”