It’s not just about tanks and trenches anymore
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I’m the International editor.
The war in Ukraine can be tough to follow, and President Trump’s pronouncements don’t help. One month, he dismisses Ukraine’s chances, saying it has “no cards.” The next, he declares it can retake all its territory from Russia, and “maybe even go further.”
To understand what’s actually happening, I visited Ukraine last week and worked alongside Times reporters there. The team — led by our bureau chief, Andrew Kramer — has covered the war closely, often at great risk on the front lines.
In our conversations with soldiers, officials, entrepreneurs and activists, I was struck by how Russia and Ukraine are engaged in two separate contests beyond the battlefield: a sprint for technological innovation that is redefining the future of warfare, and an endurance race to maintain political stability at home.
The drone war
Artillery, missiles, tanks and trench warfare dominated the first years of the war, but no longer, our Ukraine correspondent Marc Santora and his colleagues have reported.
Drones do most of the killing now.
These aren’t the big, expensive Predators and Reapers the U.S. has used. The Russian and Ukrainian drones are mostly small, mass-produced quadcopters, and inexpensive aircraft the size of a kayak. Both sides are rushing to produce them faster and more cheaply, and make them deadlier. Russia’s industrial might has lately given it an edge: It has flown more than 34,000 drones into Ukraine this year, almost nine times as many as a year ago. My colleagues Paul Sonne and Kim Barker built a data set using numbers from the Ukrainian Air Force to figure that out.
And it’s not just aerial drones. Kim took me to an abandoned factory known as Killhouse Academy, where Ukrainian recruits learn to steer unmanned ground vehicles that deliver supplies and evacuate the wounded — tasks that have become too dangerous for humans. In the Black Sea, drones resembling speedboats and torpedoes have kept Russia’s fleet at bay.
These are the new economics of war: Drones worth hundreds or thousands of dollars must be shot down by missiles that cost millions to protect tanks and ships that cost even more. That changes the shape of conflict.
The race is on to improve counter-drone defenses, and to overcome them. Better electronic jamming can be bested by drones connected to spools of fiber optic wire, which in turn can sometimes be defeated with inexpensive nets. Venture capital is pouring into start-ups in Ukraine. Moscow has gotten help from Iran and China.
The next breakthrough, perhaps powered by A.I., could tilt the war, or freeze the battle lines.
The strain is showing
In July, crowds filled Kyiv’s streets to protest an attempt by Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to weaken the country’s independent anticorruption agencies. He quickly backed down. People are still worried.
Ukraine has been under martial law for nearly four years; Zelensky would otherwise have faced an election last year. Even his main rivals agree, though, that the country should refrain from a divisive, disruptive election while the war rages.
That has left democracy in Ukraine — which protesters shed blood to preserve a decade ago — in fragile shape. Long-running concerns about corruption have been exacerbated by fears that money for the war is being stolen. Ukrainians set aside their differences when the war began, but that sense of unity is fraying. One lawmaker told us Zelensky’s attempt to weaken the anticorruption agencies had made Ukraine more vulnerable to Russian efforts to sow political chaos — a shortcut to win the war.
In Moscow, Vladimir Putin appears more secure. But two years after a paramilitary force staged a revolt against the Kremlin, the war continues to strain his authoritarian system.
Our Moscow bureau chief, Anton Troianovski, described a rift in Putin’s inner circle last month, when a long-serving aide who backed a peace deal resigned. Another Times correspondent, Anatoly Kurmanaev, recently explained how the Kremlin has been spending heavily to sustain the war effort and blunt discontent, paying life-changing bonuses to entice new recruits.
Russia’s ability to continue such spending and outlast Ukraine’s efforts to maintain wartime unity is a contest of political systems that we’re watching as closely as the war itself.
MORE TOP NEWS
Egypt hosts crucial talks on Gaza
Representatives from Israel, Hamas and the U.S. are in Egypt today for talks aimed at ending the war in Gaza. Both Israel and Hamas have signaled a readiness to move forward on Trump’s cease-fire plan, but significant gaps remain.
On Friday, Hamas said that it was ready to release all of its remaining hostages in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel. The talks in Egypt are expected to focus on that swap as well as an Israeli pullback from parts of Gaza.
But the next phase of negotiations could be much tougher. It will concern issues like disarming Hamas and setting up a new government for Gaza that excludes the group.
Israel believes that about 20 living hostages remain in Gaza, as well as the bodies of at least 25 others. It is unclear whether Hamas will free the hostages before reaching a comprehensive agreement. It sees them as significant leverage. My colleague Adam Rasgon, who reports on the war from Jerusalem, explains where the negotiations stand in the video above.
Analysis: Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, took much of the credit for the Gaza plan, but it became clear this weekend that Trump was calling the shots.
OTHER NEWS
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Sanae Takaichi, who is on a path to becoming Japan’s first female prime minister, holds complicated views on women’s rights. Read our profile.
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As the U.S. government shutdown heads into its second week, Trump and U.S. lawmakers have made no progress on a funding bill.
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Syria is choosing a parliament for the first time since rebels overthrew Bashar al-Assad 10 months ago.
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The party of Andrej Babis, a billionaire former prime minister skeptical of military support to Ukraine, won parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic.
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President Emmanuel Macron appointed most of a new cabinet for France, leaving many holdovers in key positions.
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Landslides and floods have killed at least 38 people in Nepal, adding to the challenges facing its interim government.
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Typhoon Matmo made landfall in southern China, forcing more than 151,000 evacuations and raising fears of flooding.
SPORTS
Football: With ticket prices booming, the 2026 World Cup final could be most lucrative match in the sport’s history.
Cycling: Tadej Pogacar’s 75-kilometer solo attack helped him win the European Championships.
Formula 1: Cars need fuel. So do their drivers.
MORNING READ
Vladivostok, thousands of kilometers from Moscow on the Pacific Coast, has long had grand ambitions of becoming a freewheeling cultural and trading hub, a Russian version of San Francisco or Hong Kong. But realizing that vision has been a challenge. For visitors from neighboring countries, Vladivostok feels less like Asia’s gateway than like Moscow’s outpost.
“Everyone here has a feeling of external control, no one feels autonomous,” one local historian told my colleagues on a recent trip to the city. Read more.
NUMBER OF THE DAY
11,000
— The approximate number of strings that must be meticulously tuned on 50 pianos and other instruments for the performances of “11,000 Strings,” a composition by Georg Friedrich Haas, in New York City.
AROUND THE WORLD
What’s trending in … South Korea
“Shut up and meditate.” That was the message on a T-shirt sold at a recent Buddhist convention in Busan. Also among the merch: a heart-shaped magnet that read “Sentient beings I love you” and a neon Buddha key chain.
The expo was part of a push by South Korean monks to connect with younger people. Buddhists have also hosted a dating reality show and started a K-pop music group of monks and nuns. Many of the initiatives have taken off on social media and drawn crowds of young people. But it’s still unclear whether the buzz is the beginning of a true spiritual awakening. Read more.
REPORTER RECOMMENDATIONS
Every week, we’ll bring you tips from our reporters across the world. Today, our Johannesburg bureau chief, John Eligon, shares his recommendations for the city.
Dine at Les Créatifs, a restaurant by the Soweto-born chef Wandile Mabaso that fuses traditional South African dishes with Michelin-starred techniques he acquired while working in kitchens around the world.
Listen to live music at Untitled Basement, an edgy venue in the student district of Braamfontein that hosts some of the hottest local acts from an array of genres. One night you might hear Afro jazz; the next, spiritual South African folk.
Run with the Tyrone Harriers, a club that does free social group runs every morning, with many routes cutting through the crumbling yet majestic central business district. Stick around after for coffee and a breakfast sandwich at the meet-up point, Croft & Co.
RECIPE
Many sushi purists turn their noses up at the California roll, which was invented in North America in the 1970s. But our food columnist Eric Kim writes that it is not to be underappreciated: “I can tell you from experience that one of life’s great joys is rolling and slicing your own California rolls at home, then scarfing them down on the spot.”
WHERE IS THIS?
Where are they climbing?
TIME TO PLAY
Here are today’s Spelling Bee, Mini Crossword, Wordle and Sudoku. Find all our games here.
You’re done for today. See you tomorrow! — Katrin
We welcome your feedback. Send us your suggestions at [email protected].
Katrin Bennhold is a senior writer on the international desk. She was formerly Berlin bureau chief and has reported from London and Paris, covering a range of topics from the rise of populism to gender.
The post Drones, Democracy and the War in Ukraine appeared first on New York Times.
