Jul. 17 — A Russian soldier survives for about 20-30 minutes on the battlefield because of Ukrainian AI-equipped attack drones, said John Ratcliffe, director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), during the Innovation Summit, reported Bloomberg.

According to Ratcliffe, Ukraine has limited the advance of Russian forces, in part because of attack drones innovations, despite Russia’s numerical superiority.

The US officials suggested that Russia is losing about 7,000 soldiers a week. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s President, also said that Ukrainian drones destroyed more than 80% of Russian targets.

Ukraine’s Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who, according to many in the country’s military, was responsible for optimizing the use and procurement of technologies in the Armed Forces in the last six months, was dismissed by Zelenskyy on Jul. 15. 

Since morning on Jul. 16, protests have been ongoing in cities across Ukraine against Zelenskyy’s decision to dismiss Fedorov. Many protesters worried about the way Fedorov’s removal would affect the efficiency of Ukraine’s drone operations.

Zelenskyy claimed that Fedorov would stay in his team, though didn’t specify his future role. In the briefing on Jul. 16, Fedorov said he has been working on the Starlink and Drone Army project for the Armed Forces since 2022.

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