Ukraine is emerging as a global drone export powerhouse, coming fresh off vast experience gained in over four years of war with Russia - or at least that's the image Kiev is seeking to present to the world.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that nearly 20 countries are pursuing drone agreements with Ukraine, with four deals already finalized.
via ReutersAgreements already confirmed include deals with Germany, Norway and the Netherlands, alongside long-term security partnerships with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates which were inked in late March as Zelensky personally toured the Gulf, even amid the ongoing Iran war, according to Reuters.
Zelensky has been offering Ukraine's services and drone supplies to Gulf countries as a cheaper, effective alternative to dwindling and costly American-supplied anti-air defenses.
"Nearly 20 countries are currently involved at various stages: 4 agreements have already been signed, and the first contracts under these agreements are now being prepared," Zelensky has newly proclaimed on X.
"Ukraine has already started to receive the necessary volume of fuel thanks to the agreements," Zelensky also stated. Interestingly, he's also of late been pitching being a supplier of battlefield robots, as we've detailed before.
Starting in April, Zelensky had hailed that Ukrainian personnel were able to help partners build effective air defenses using interceptor drones to combat Iranian Shaheds.
Low-cost interceptor drones deployed by Ukraine are among the most effective ways to combat the inexpensive $20,000 Shaheds, as a war of attrition makes little economic sense when interceptor missiles cost hundreds of thousands of dollars or more.
Ukraine has had four years to develop low-cost one-way attack drones and interceptors during its war with Russia. Now, this technology is clearly being exported across multiple theaters in Eurasia.
Zelensky did not identify the countries or the exact interceptor drones used in his comments at the time, but it is possible that Octopus-100 autonomous interceptor drones were deployed.
The past couple months have seen Zelensky touring around proclaiming Ukraine's ability to fill defense tech sector gaps for allied countries:
Zelensky:
If Ukraine, Türkiye, Norway, and the UK were EU members, you would have the strongest army in the world.
It would become the strongest alliance in the world.
Together, these countries and the EU have smart engineers, the best technologies, the best drones,… pic.twitter.com/xFRe5nVz5Z
He said Ukraine had deployed hundreds of experts to the Gulf area, and, in return, has received weapons to protect its energy assets as well as financial support.
After the Trump White House began signaling a significant drawdown in direct military aid to Ukraine and to Europe more broadly, the Zelensky administration began launching more creative means to ensure ongoing funding for the war with Russia. Support from EU countries, however, doesn't look to have wavered.
Tyler Durden Mon, 05/11/2026 - 12:50Authored by Ben Sellers via HeadlineUSA,
With partisan battle lines being drawn nationwide in a legal showdown over redistricting, Utah may be next in line after the judge who forcibly gerrymandered a congressional seat for Democrats stepped down in disgrace.
Diana Hagen, a justice on the Utah Supreme Court resigned Friday in a letter to Gov. Spencer Cox.
Utah News Dispatch: Utah Supreme Court Justice Diana Hagen announces her resignation from the court.
Hagen faced allegations she had a relationship with an attorney involved in a case about redistricting, which led to Utah getting a new congressional map. pic.twitter.com/aFQI3Uw8Lf
Hagen had joined in the court opinion for League of Women Voters of Utah v. Utah State Legislature, which forced the red state to redraw its Republican-friendly maps in 2024.
Although Utah’s map currently has Republicans representing all four seats, the courts said it must redraw the maps ahead of the 2026 election to create a Democrat-favorable district around Salt Lake City.
The case centered on a 2018 ballot initiative that sought to create an independent voting commission to draw the maps. The legislature later passed its own 2020 law that limited the commission to an advisory role, but the courts determined it lacked the authority to do so.
Hagen subsequently recused herself from the proceedings after her ex-husband leaked text messages showing that she had been conducting an affair with attorney David Reymann, who was representing the plaintiffs in the redistricting case.
Although an independent investigation by the Judicial Conduct Commission found the allegations against Hagen had “very little credibility,” she continued to face pressure to resign over the perceived conflict of interest.
In her letter of resignation, Hagen cited the extra scrutiny on her private life and the toll it had taken on her family.
“They do not deserve to have intensely personal details surrounding the painful dissolution of my thirty-year marriage subjected to public scrutiny,” she wrote.
In a terse press release acknowledging the resignation, Cox’s office said only that additional information about filling the vacancy would be forthcoming.
With previous rulings against the Utah legislature having been unanimous, it is unclear that Hagen’s departure will change the calculus.
Moreover, the seat’s current occupant, RINO Rep. Blake Moore, voiced support for Proposition 4, the ballot initiative that would turn his own seat blue.
Under the new maps, Moore will run in a different district, with Riley Owen, an Oxford-educated naval intelligence officer and CEO, running in the newly blue-leaning District 1.
Ben Sellers is a freelance authored writer and former editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/realbensellers.
Tyler Durden Mon, 05/11/2026 - 12:20