Theater-first intel feed with the current analysis and latest brief cards for the selected hotspot.
◈ Theater Assessment
Ukraine is sustaining and expanding its structural advantage in the drone war across all operational axes, combining record-scale defensive air interception performance with an increasingly ambitious offensive deep-strike campaign that now spans Crimea, occupied Donetsk, and Russian territory including Moscow. The 60-target Crimea sweep and confirmation that Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Forces have destroyed 23 Russian air-defense assets in June alone signals an accelerating attrition campaign against the layered Russian air-defense architecture shielding occupied territory. Concurrent domestic capability development, including new reconnaissance UAS entrants and Ukraine's interdiction of Russian sea drone logistics, reflects a broadening of Ukraine's autonomous systems portfolio beyond the strike mission.
◈ Key Developments
Current brief cards for this theater.
Beriev A-50U radar planes are Russia's eyes in the sky. As Ukraine knocks out more of the A-50Us, Russian forces are slowly going blind.
Ukrainian operators of heavy multirotor drones undergo a specialised piloting course in addition to basic military training. Future drone crews are being taught night navigation and manoeuvring with payloads onboard.
Russian attacks have caused new power outages across multiple regions of Ukraine.
Russian officials reported interceptions across multiple regions as Kyiv continues cross-border strikes targeting military and energy infrastructure.
◈ Operational Trend
Ukraine's offensive drone operations are shifting from episodic deep-strike raids toward a sustained, multi-domain attrition campaign — systematically dismantling Russian air-defense nodes in Crimea and occupied territory while simultaneously striking at strategic depth inside Russia, indicating a deliberate effort to progressively hollow out the sensor and interceptor architecture that protects Russian rear areas and enables persistent drone bombardment of Ukrainian territory.
154 drones attacked Ukraine on the night of 20-21 March. Ukraine's air defence forces destroyed or jammed 148 of them. Damage reported in Zaporizhzhia.
Eleven countries have asked for help. Some have already received Ukrainian teams and technology.
Zelenskyy has said Kyiv wants money and tech in return for its help in the Middle East, adding that the U.S. was among the nations that sought Kyiv’s help.
The 18-ton vehicle, named the MK1, was developed in less than a year and is envisioned as a multirole platform incorporating lessons from the Ukraine war.
The helicopter crew attempted to escape. However, drones operated by USF pilots “eliminated” them.
Ukrainian advisers deployed to the Gulf were reportedly stunned by US reliance on costly missiles to intercept cheap drones, exposing a stark vulnerability in air defense tactics.
Ukrainian forces conducted 365 mid-range strikes between March 2025 and March 2026, a third of them in the last three months alone, using domestically produced drones.
In this episode of the Urban Warfare Project Podcast, John Spencer is joined by Dr. Anthony Tingle, an independent researcher who has made nine trips to Ukraine since the start […] The post Urban Warfare Project Podcast: Drones and Urban Warfare in Ukraine first appeared on Modern War Institute .
Kyiv’s forces have unique experience in defending against Iranian-made drones, making Ukrainian industry and expertise a hot commodity.
In 2025, a NATO exercise in Estonia revealed the structural vulnerability that modern mechanized forces can no longer afford to ignore. During the Hedgehog 2025 exercise, a Ukrainian team of […] The post Drone Warfare and the Future of Korean Armor first appeared on Modern War Institute .
A Russian drone struck a Territorial Recruitment Center building in Sumy, wounding a passerby, one day after Ukraine marked Mobilization Workers’ Day on March 17.
In an exclusive interview, a logistics coordinator of Ukraine’s 423rd UAS Battalion speaks about drone warfare, shifting battlefield tactics, and why he believes Russia’s war goes far beyond Ukraine.
Following their success in Ukraine, Arctic nations are assessing whether first-person-view drones could be deployed on Arctic battlefields.
Some of Ukraine’s best-known drone military commanders and experts will be visiting Washington later this month to brief policymakers and defense leaders.
Ukraine spent years perfecting cheap drone killers. After burning through billions in missiles in three days, the U.S. and its allies are asking for help.