In four years, Ukraine has gone from civilian drones for weddings to robotic systems that capture Russian military personnel, evacuate the wounded, and breach air defenses. As The Jerusalem Post writes, the full-scale war forced Ukraine to create an entirely new model of warfare, where cheap drones, automation, and rapid technological solutions begin to play the leading role, former Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told the publication, UNN reports.
Details
Journalists note that Ukraine has effectively become a "living laboratory for the war of the future," and its military-industrial complex has transformed from volunteer "garage" developments into a full-fledged defense ecosystem.
"Ukraine has found its Slingshot of David"
Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov compared the modern Ukrainian model of war to the biblical story of David and Goliath.
"You certainly know the story of David and Goliath. David was young, but very brave and smart. He used advanced technology like a stone and a sling and defeated the monster. We did the same,"
According to him, at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine could not compete with Russia in a classic war of resources and heavy weaponry, so the country began looking for asymmetric solutions.
"Our geniuses in garages started attaching various electronic warfare systems to toys. We called them 'wedding drones' because before the war they were used at weddings,"
"The whole country became volunteers"
Reznikov emphasized that in parallel with official deliveries of Western weaponry, a separate technological movement effectively formed in Ukraine.
"The whole country became volunteers. Some went to the front, and some went to garages and started building something for the front — for neighbors, brothers, friends. This became a movement of new ideas,"
At the same time, even the military leadership was initially skeptical about the mass use of cheap civilian drones.
Reznikov recalled that former Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi once told him:
"I don't need 'wedding drones.' I need something more serious — Bayraktar or Raptor,"
However, it was the cheap FPV drones that changed the logic of the war.
"One FPV drone with a thermal imager can cost a maximum of 500 dollars. A Russian tank costs at least 12 million dollars. It can be destroyed by two FPV drones for a few hundred dollars instead of using artillery shells worth thousands of euros,"
The destruction of the "Moskva" was a turning point
Separately, the former defense minister called the sinking of the Russian cruiser "Moskva" in April 2022 key evidence of the effectiveness of the new Ukrainian concept of war.
"We sank the Russian flagship with Ukrainian Neptune missiles. You don't need to invest a billion dollars in a warship. You need cheaper but smarter solutions — in the water, in the air, and on the ground,"
Robots instead of soldiers
Adviser to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Hanna Hvozdiar told The Jerusalem Post that Ukraine is now actively developing ground robotic systems. These include robots for logistics, demining, evacuation of the wounded, delivery of ammunition, and other dangerous tasks.
"When Russia invaded in full force in 2022, we really weren't ready. But we didn't want to give up. We needed to give the soldiers tools to work with. It was literally a matter of survival,"
According to Hvozdiar, Ukraine has already moved from the "romantic phase" of garage inventions to systematic state support for the technological sector.
Robots are already taking Russians prisoner
One of the most high-profile recent episodes was the capture of Russian military personnel using a robotic system.
"This operation was something completely new. It wasn't just about technology, but also about planning and execution. Many people were involved — intelligence, robot operators, and the robotic platforms themselves,"
Ukraine is already creating robots to evacuate other robots
According to the defense minister's adviser, Russian FPV drones and artillery are now attacking not only people but also Ukrainian robotic systems. That is why Ukraine has begun creating new types of platforms.
"I like those robots that best serve our military. But we are constantly creating new solutions. For example, robotic systems for evacuating other robots that were 'wounded' or damaged by Russian FPV drones. Now we already have robots for evacuating robots,"
Ukraine is testing the war of the future
The Jerusalem Post notes that Ukraine has effectively become a testing ground for a new era of warfare. Ukrainian engineers and military personnel are experimenting with deep-strike drones, robotic platforms, Shahed interceptors, and automated air defense systems.
"Interest in these capabilities is huge because this is a completely new direction for the whole world,"
The next goal is fully automated air defense
She named the full automation of air defense systems as one of the key directions for the development of Ukrainian technologies.
"We can do this with the help of robots. And this is something that could protect many civilians who suffer from Russian strikes every day. A fully automated solution that can detect and destroy a target without human intervention is our next goal,"
"This is no longer a World War II-style war"
In conclusion, Reznikov stated that Russia's war against Ukraine has already fundamentally changed the very nature of modern combat operations.
"This is no longer a traditional war, like during World War II. We are simultaneously using Soviet trenches and weapons, NATO standard systems, and completely new technologies — robots that fly, jump, swim, and crawl,"
The Jerusalem Post emphasizes that Ukraine did not seek to become a world leader in robotic warfare. But in trying to survive, it created technologies and approaches that are now being closely studied by armies around the world.
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