#Ukraine Drone Warfare

Ukraine began the war reliant on other countries’ weapons. Today, it builds its own fast, cheap, and battle-proven tech, and the very states that once supplied kits are now lining up to get a piece of the action.

In a war defined by drones, satellites, and electronic warfare, videos of Russian soldiers on horseback in occupied Ukraine are a symptom of exhaustion—an army running out of fuel but rich in imperial myths.

Vadym Adamov, a 21-year-old filmmaker who enlisted at 18 after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, now serves as a drone operator. Between rotations at the front, he tours campuses and countries to show how drones reshaped the war—and why Europe must rethink its approach.