The First Cyberpunk War: Ukraine conflict combines cutting-edge and ancient weaponry

Both sides had to improvise on the fly. During the battle for Kyiv, local residents helped direct Ukrainian artillery, including heavy “Pion” self-propelled guns, using consumer-grade quadcopters. The Russians, faced with non-functional communication systems that had eaten up significant pre-war investment, resorted to buying easily intercepted Chinese Baofeng radios.

The development of strike-reconnaissance UAVs accelerated after the initial Russian “Blitzcringe” and the beginning of the Donbas offensive. By this time, both sides had experienced artillery ammunition shortages — Ukraine's Soviet-era stocks were depleted first, followed by Russian “shell hunger” after a series of effective strikes on their supply depots by Ukrainian forces using American HIMARS MLRS.

Rather than following Soviet-era manuals and resorting to “area fire,” small reconnaissance drones now directed each precious shell precisely on target. Additionally, grenade drops from drones allowed for the destruction of small, lightly armored targets without the need for artillery.