Defense Minister Shoigu said on Saturday in a video from his ministry that Russia boosted its output of military drones in the last year, but some technical problems remained.

Russia has made extensive use of drones in the course of the almost two year-long military campaign in Ukraine, but has often had to rely on cheap Iranian-made Shahed drones.

“The production capacities that have been created allow us to complete most of the tasks that we are faced with today,” Shoigu said during a tour of drone production facilities in the Volga river region of Udmurtia.

He told a meeting of officials that they still had to solve problems with using AI in drones and electronic warfare.

Moscow has recently shown that its military industry has increased production, as Russia tries to end months of stalemate in Ukraine.

Ukrainian leaders have said drones are crucial to winning the war, while military experts say the frequent use of the weapons by both sides is hindering ground progress.