Illia Kabachynskyi

Ukrainian military units promote a shared slogan—robots go into battle first. Three years ago, this largely meant reconnaissance drones. Today, however, ground-based robots are conducting thousands of missions every month.

A drone discovered in the United Arab Emirates carried Russian Geran-2 markings,  but it was identical to Iran’s Shahed-136. The find reveals a growing military partnership in which Moscow and Tehran are working together to sow panic in surrounding regions.

Russia’s military sector depends heavily on smuggled foreign microchips, but it also relies on a handful of domestic factories. Kremniy El, one of them, has been destroyed in a Ukrainian Storm Shadow strike.

For the first time since the 2024 Kursk operation, Ukrainian forces have reclaimed more territory in a single month than Russia managed to capture. By going on the offensive, Ukraine is disrupting Russia’s plans for a major spring–summer campaign and seizing the initiative.

Ukraine’s experience fighting Russia is valuable and could prove useful worldwide. One week of war in the Middle East has already demonstrated this: Iran, which operates according to the “Honey Badger” doctrine, may not be able to withstand Ukrainian military tools that rely on similar principles of warfare.

Arab countries are paying a steep price for Iran’s attacks—literally. The missiles used to shoot down low-cost Shahed drones cost hundreds of thousands, and sometimes even millions, of dollars. Ukrainian drone operators and interceptor drones can do the same job more cheaply and efficiently.