Zelenskyy Says Ukrainian Experts Will Bring Real Combat Experience to Allied Militaries

When Ukrainian technical specialists travel to partner nations to assist with drone defense, they will bring something that no textbook or training program can provide: real combat experience from the world’s most intense drone war. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized this point in announcing that Ukraine would deploy both equipment and experts to the United States and Middle Eastern allies facing Iranian Shahed drone threats.
Zelenskyy confirmed conversations with leaders from the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, and Kuwait about defense cooperation, and stated that a formal US request had been fulfilled. He described the deployment of Ukrainian specialists as a key component of the assistance package, noting that hardware alone is insufficient without the operational knowledge to use it effectively.
The experience these specialists carry was earned over four years of continuous combat. Russia has attacked Ukraine with tens of thousands of Shaheds, including a single night barrage of over 800. Every attack produced operational insights — about detection ranges, interception angles, countermeasures, and tactical adaptations — that accumulated into a body of knowledge that exists nowhere else in the world.
Ukrainian manufacturers translated some of this knowledge into hardware, developing interceptors costing as little as $1,000 per unit. But the full value of Ukraine’s contribution to partner nations is the combination of systems and the expertise to deploy them optimally. This comprehensive approach distinguishes Ukraine’s assistance from a simple arms sale and makes it genuinely transformative for allied defense capabilities.
Zelenskyy connected the deployment of Ukrainian experts to his country’s broader diplomatic goals, noting that assistance flows to nations that support Ukraine’s security and peace efforts. He acknowledged the disruption of the Iran crisis to peace talks, but expressed confidence that the deep defense relationships being built through the deployment of Ukrainian specialists will serve Kyiv’s interests long after the current crisis has passed.