Ukraine hosted a drone-building competition to see what new tech could make a difference in the war against Russia

Ukrainian serviceman carries a reconnaissance unmanned aerial device near a frontline, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region. Anna Kudriavtseva/Reuters

• Ukraine hosted a drone-building competition to find new tech to use against Russia, CNN reported.
• The competition took place outside Kyiv and featured unmanned-drone makers from across the globe.
• Drones had to go through ground target practice, chases, and in-air combat, CNN reported.

Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation hosted a drone-building competition to help find new technology to help fight its war against Russia, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov told CNN.

The event took place outside Kyiv and featured unmanned-drone makers from Ukraine and across the globe.

Drone makers were told to show off their drones in ground target practice, chases, and dogfights, also known as in-air combat, CNN reported.

"Every few weeks, we conduct various studies, see what is happening in this direction, look for new drone developers, study the results," Fedorov told CNN. "It is very important for us to find companies that can scale, to look at new usage formats, because this is a technological war."

The event and studies are part of a Ukrainian campaign called "Army of Drones" to help increase the supply of drones to the military, CNN reported.

The campaign, which is part of an online crowdfunding initiative called UNITED24, has received hundreds of millions of dollars and expanded Ukraine's arsenal of drones by the thousands, Insider reporter Jake Epstein previously reported.

Drones have been a major part of the war on both sides since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Fedorov told CNN that first-person-view drones have been a "game-changer" for Ukraine and that the country is also developing some longer-range drones.

"We are increasing the production of long-range drones," he said. "I cannot comment on the details of the missions here. But in this direction, a certain revolution is also taking place regarding production scaling."