Ukraine Warns NATO: ‘Nearly Impossible’ to Fight Russia Without Drones

DDM News

Top Ukrainian military officials have declared that drone warfare is now an indispensable element of the country’s defense strategy, insisting that it would be “nearly impossible” to fight Russia without them.

Diaspora Digital Media (DDM) gathered that this urgent warning was delivered at a military conference in Wiesbaden, Germany, where Ukrainian commanders addressed their Western allies on the evolving nature of modern warfare.

Speaking at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) meeting on Wednesday, Major Robert “Magyar” Brovdi, head of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, stressed the immense price Ukraine has paid to master drone warfare.

“We paid with lives to get this expertise,” he told participants, including senior NATO officials and U.S. Army representatives.

“But you can get this expertise out of us,” Brovdi continued.

“We will support you the same way you’ve supported us during this war.”

His remarks came alongside Brigadier General Volodymyr Horbatiuk, deputy chief of the general staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Both men repeatedly emphasized the central role drones now play in nearly every aspect of Ukraine’s military operations.

Horbatiuk went further to declare that it is “nearly impossible” to execute critical combat operations without drones.

He outlined the various ways Ukraine relies on them, including aerial surveillance, logistics delivery to frontline troops, targeting deep into Russian territory, and intercepting incoming threats.

The Ukrainian military has not only embraced drones for reconnaissance but also developed tactics for long-range offensive strikes.

One of the most notable examples cited was Ukraine’s large-scale drone strike on Russian airbases in June 2025, which successfully targeted sites located thousands of miles from the active front lines.

That operation demonstrated Kyiv’s growing ability to project power beyond conventional battlefield boundaries, relying heavily on drone swarms and AI-assisted targeting.

Ukraine’s plea in Wiesbaden underscores a broader shift in modern military thinking.

Traditional combat models are rapidly being replaced with tech-driven strategies, especially in conflicts involving asymmetrical force dynamics like Ukraine versus Russia.

The war, now in its third year, has pushed Ukraine to innovate under pressure, turning it into one of the world’s leading laboratories for unmanned aerial systems in active combat.

Brovdi warned NATO and Western countries not to underestimate how critical this shift is.

He urged them to take Ukraine’s experience seriously and prepare their own forces accordingly to avoid future regrets.

“You do not want hard questions from your children about when their father is coming home,” Brovdi said, hinting at the devastating cost of unpreparedness in modern warfare.

Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has been forced to improvise and build a defense architecture that heavily depends on drone innovation.

Initially outgunned and outnumbered, Ukraine began using modified commercial drones, like DJI quadcopters, to conduct surveillance and even carry small explosives.

That early success evolved into the formation of a dedicated Unmanned Systems Force within the military structure, now tasked with developing, testing, and deploying advanced drones for a range of operations.

Western support has played a key role, but Ukraine is increasingly calling for technology transfer, not just hardware.

Ukrainian commanders argue that NATO must integrate drone warfare into every level of combat training and strategic planning, or risk falling behind in future conflicts.

At the conference, the mood was a mixture of admiration and urgency.

Many NATO officers acknowledged the transformational nature of drone warfare but also noted the challenges of adapting legacy systems and doctrines to accommodate such rapid technological change.

With Russia ramping up its own use of drones, including Iranian-made Shahed drones for strategic bombardment, the arms race in unmanned systems is now a central pillar of the war.

Ukraine, on the front lines of this evolution, continues to stress that without drones, victory would be unthinkable.

As the war drags on, Ukraine’s battlefield lessons are becoming warnings for the rest of the world.

And as Brovdi and Horbatiuk made clear in Wiesbaden, those who fail to adapt may one day pay the same price, only without the benefit of learning in time.

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