Wars reveal new information about warfighting and can spur changes in how foreign observers prepare for future conflicts. In this report, the authors make eight novel or notable observations about the Russia-Ukraine war and forecast how these observations might translate to a potential NATO-Russia or U.S.-China war. The authors also identify broader tactical, operational, and strategic implications for U.S. policymakers.
‘I’m fighting two wars. One against the Russians. And one inside myself.’
A drone pilot and her all-women unit are waging a new kind of warfare on Ukraine’s eastern front
A war foretold: how the CIA and MI6 got hold of Putin’s Ukraine plans and why nobody believed them
Drawing on more than 100 interviews with senior intelligence officials and other insiders in multiple countries, this exclusive account details how the US and Britain uncovered Vladimir Putin’s plans to invade, and why most of Europe – including the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy – dismissed them
The Invisible War in Ukraine Being Fought Over Radio Waves (Published 2023)
Using electromagnetic waves to flummox and follow smarter weapons has become a critical part of the cat-and-mouse game between Ukraine and Russia. The United States, China and others have taken note.
As Russia’s fiber optic drones flood the battlefield, Ukraine is racing to catch up
Editor’s Note: In accordance with the security protocols of the Ukrainian military, soldiers featured in this story are identified by first names and callsigns only. Every year, as the way war is fought constantly evolves on the battlefields of Ukraine, the visuals of the fighting on the ground that constantly flood the internet transform with it. In the frantic first weeks of the full-scale invasion, it was Russian tanks stolen by farmers tossing their turrets after Ukrainian Javelin strikes.
The Strange Rise and Fall of Russia’s Crowd Sourced Defense Industry
In the early days of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, much that could go wrong did for the Russian military. As one volunteer
Putin’s High-Tech Russian Submarines Goad NATO Deep Below the Atlantic
NATO is fighting back against Russia’s submarine threat in cat-and-mouse games reminiscent of the Cold War
War in the Smartphone Age | Hurst Publishers
An essential guide to understanding war and information on today’s data-saturated battlefields—from Ukraine to Gaza and beyond.
Russia’s Drone Line Experiment - Foreign Policy Research Institute
The following analysis was originally published on Two Marines, a newsletter on Russia's war in Ukraine, defense technology, and modern warfare, on April 3,
A Thousand Snipers in the Sky: The New War in Ukraine (Published 2025)
Drones have changed the war in Ukraine, with soldiers adapting off-the-shelf models and swarming the front lines.
On the Horizon: The Ukraine War and the Evolving Threat of Drone Terrorism - Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
Abstract: This article analyzes the evolution of terrorist drone usage and forecasts its future trajectory in light of the tactical and technological innovations emerging from the Russo-Ukrainian War. The conflict has become a critical “innovation hub” for drone warfare, accelerating advancements in the scale, speed, and range of drone operations. These developments are not only … Continued
The Impact of Drones on the Battlefield: Lessons of the Russia-Ukraine War from a French Perspective
View PDF The Russia-Ukraine War is not just a geopolitical earthquake—it is a tactical and technological inflection point. While many initially focused on tanks and artillery, the war’s defining feature has become the mass deployment of cheap, disposable, and networked technologies—especially drones, loitering munitions, and small-scale electromagnetic warfare systems.
How drone combat in Ukraine is changing warfare
In Ukraine, drones have changed warfare, surveilling frontlines, guiding artillery and destroying enemy targets. These can be close by or hundreds of kilometres away, deep in Russian and Ukrainian territory.
Drug cartel operatives snuck into Ukraine for drone training: report
The revelations highlight Ukraine’s unintended emergence as a training ground for modern asymmetric warfare techniques amid the conflict with Russia.
From the Steppes of Donbas to the Deserts of Syria — OSINT for Ukraine
After more than 13 years of civil war, the Assad regime collapsed in a matter of weeks in December 2024. With few foreseeing the swiftness of the regime's demise, Russian interests in the region were dealt a resounding blow, following nearly a decade of committed involvement. As arguably the Russian ally which enjoyed the most military backing, the old Syria under Assad proved to be somewhat of a testing ground for Russian military expertise - perhaps the most important element of its relations with friendly states in the ‘global south’.
Exclusive: Russians covertly trained by China return to fight in Ukraine, sources say
China's armed forces secretly trained about 200 Russian military personnel in China late last year.
Russia’s FPV drone campaign in Ukraine institutionalizes intentional civilian harm as a tool of war
Russia's use of FPV drones to strike civilian targets in Ukraine indicates a culture seeking to weaponize civilian harm as a tool of war.
