Illia Kabachynskyi

Russian soldiers are using large infrastructure pipelines in Ukraine to bypass Ukrainian positions and launch surprise attacks. Previously, this tactic helped them capture a major city. Today, the pipes are becoming their graves.

In just weeks, Ukrainian forces reclaimed territory in the southern Zaporizhzhia region that Russia spent months capturing, erasing nearly half of Moscow’s recent gains, and exposing critical weaknesses in Russian communications and logistics.

What distinguishes Ukraine from Russia in this war is its choice of targets. While Ukraine strikes Russian military facilities and infrastructure that helps finance the war, Russia targets energy infrastructure to leave Ukrainian cities without electricity, heat, and water.

Ukraine is implementing its drone warfare strategy: thanks to effective strikes by drone units, Russian losses are now almost comparable to the rate at which Russia recruits new troops.

Ukrainian defense tech saw an unprecedented surge in 2025, with more than $100 million raised in investments. The leader is the startup Swarmer, known for developing “drone swarm” technology, which closed the industry's largest publicly disclosed funding round in 2025—$15 million. The company is now seeking a listing on Nasdaq.

In 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion, Ukraine had just a handful of drone companies. Today, there are several hundred in drones alone. Across roughly a dozen DefenceTech subsectors, investments now run into the tens of millions of dollars. And that’s only what’s publicly visible.