This is a new kind of war. Drones have fundamentally changed its nature—and continue to do so every day. The threats now come from above, not just ahead. If you’re wounded, medics may not reach you quickly because of the drone threat. Dugouts should be less massive—and more concealed.

And the drones themselves are diverse: small and large, for observation and for attack, for bombing and for supply. Let’s try to understand this evolving battlefield.

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My name is Volodymyr Yermolenko, I am a Ukrainian philosopher, the chief editor of UkraineWorld, and the president of PEN Ukraine.

My guest today is Nataliya Gumenyuk, a leading Ukrainian journalist and co-founder of the Reckoning Project, which combines war crimes documentation with journalism. Nataliya recently embedded with three Ukrainian brigades to study drone warfare in depth.

She wrote a major article for "The Atlantic".

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2025/05/ukraine-troops-front-lines/682910/

In this episode, I asked her to share what she saw and what she learned.

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The Explaining Ukraine podcast is produced by UkraineWorld, an English-language media outlet about Ukraine, run by Internews Ukraine.

You can support our work on Patreon, https://www.patreon.com/c/ukraineworld.

Your support is vital, as we rely heavily on crowdfunding.

You can also contribute to our frontline volunteer efforts, where we assist both soldiers and civilians. Donations are welcome via PayPal at: [email protected].

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Contents:

00:00 Intro

02:10 How is drone warfare changing the Russia-Ukraine war?

05:22 Why and how the frontline became transparent

14:59 Different types of drones and their purposes

27:51 Scaling or diversity: is Russia leading in the drone manufacturing?

32:11 Danger of the fiber-optic drones

37:42 What are the Ukrainian production capacities?

39:42 Ukraine strikes deep: Operation Spiderweb

42:29 What challenges does Ukraine face in drone production and how can international partners best support these efforts?

52:18 Support our work: https://www.patreon.com/c/ukraineworld