Ukraine is developing artificially intelligent drones with the financial help of a UK-led drone coalition.

       Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of the eastern European country, unmanned vehicles have been increasingly used by both Moscow and Kyiv's troops to hit enemy targets.

       Ukraine’s defence ministry believes its naval drones managed to strike the once powerful Russia’s Black Sea Fleet "at a ratio one to 10 in the context of price".

       The AI nature of the drones being developed will consist of an image recognition targeting system allowing for the vehicle to reach the target without being fully piloted and making it harder for Russian defence systems to strike them down.

       Moreover, the system would allow pilots operating the drones to stay further away from the frontline, according to Kateryna Chernohorenko, Ukraine’s deputy defence minister.

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       This project was developed as a "joint venture" alongside members of the ￡1.2billion scheme, the official explained, and was backed by more than ￡200million in Western finance from a drone capability coalition being spearheaded by Britain and Latvia.

       Explaining how these drones will change operations, told The Telegraph: "The great challenge is the last mile of engagement taking into account that more and more individual electronic warfare systems are available.

       "Our drones should be more effective and should be guided towards the target without any operators. It should be based on visual navigation. We also call it ‘last-mile targeting’, homing in according to the image."

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       This groundbreaking drone would still require to be handled by troops during the phase of the launch and piloted for the first part of the flight.

       However, about a mile before the target, the AI would take over the drone, making it harder for Russia to disrupt the signal linking the vehicle to the pilot.

       A Ministry of Defence spokesman told the UK news outlet: "We are leading the way in providing lethal aid to Ukraine, including over 10,000 drones, which can attack targets at sea, provide surveillance and are first-person view.

       "The UK is also a joint leader of the drone capability coalition, which is supplying thousands of drones to Ukraine which have proven highly effective on the battlefield."

       The development of the Ukrainian drone programme is particularly important at a time when uncertainty surrounds the level of support the US can provide Kyiv now, amid a delay in the approval of a multi-billion military aid package, and following the November presidential elections.

       In recent months drones have also been used to hit targets outside of Ukraine's internationally recognised borders.

       While Kyiv rarely claims responsibility for military actions inside the Russian territory, sources at its intelligence department have claimed the war-torn country was behind some of the many drone attacks launched on Russian oil refineries and factories.