By Galina Korol | 2025-06-20

KYIV -- NATO once trained Ukraine's soldiers. Now, it is closely watching how they fight.

Ukrainian battlefield innovation is drawing interest across Western military circles, challenging familiar assumptions about how modern wars are fought and who is shaping them.

For decades, conventional wisdom held that the side with larger battalions, heavier equipment and deeper budgets would dominate. But Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has complicated that belief.

One of Ukraine's boldest special operations, dubbed Operation Spider's Web, has become a symbol of that shift. The mission, carried out just weeks ago, remains the focus of international attention for how quickly it unfolded and how clearly it showcased the changing dynamics of the battlefield.

Ukraine's 'Trojan horse'

French Adm. Pierre Vandier, NATO's supreme allied commander transformation, described Ukraine's recent operation as a precise and bold "Trojan horse."

"It was a real coup. We are entering a dynamic era where armies must rely on both major planning but also adaptive planning," Vandier told AFP on June 9.

Vandier hailed the "technical and industrial creativity" of Ukraine.

On June 1, Ukrainian intelligence used drones to strike four Russian airfields, including the Belaya in Siberia, almost 4,500km from Ukraine.

The operation relied on drones covertly launched from trucks near the targeted sites, allowing them to evade traditional air defenses and hit deep behind enemy lines, said the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

Leveraging asymmetry

Ukraine's approach to warfare centers on rapid adaptation and unconventional tactics.

This mindset stems from Ukraine's fight for survival and the absence of "self-imposed restrictions" seen in Western militaries, political analyst Ihor Chalenko, director of the Center for Analysis and Strategies, told Kontur.

Operations like Spider's Web help dismantle the long-standing image of Russia as an "invincible giant" backed by nuclear weapons and powerful intelligence agencies like the KGB and Federal Security Service (FSB), said Chalenko.

"None of this is important when asymmetry enters the game," he said, adding that with creativity and unorthodox uses of existing technology, Ukraine can "achieve great results" and undercut Moscow's traditional advantages.

Ukraine's deep strikes highlight flaws in Western defense thinking, said Chalenko

Comparing Ukraine to ethical hackers who expose system vulnerabilities, Chalenko said, Ukraine is doing this work for free.

"It is guided by Ukraine's national security interests and is showing the Western countries how they should evolve in order to bolster their own defense."

Concepts of use

Drones are at the center of what one analyst calls "a revolution in warfare."

"In Ukraine we're seeing something new on the battlefield that is entirely unstudied, and the world's armies are not aligned with this new element," Serhiy Kuzan, director of the Ukrainian Center for Security and Cooperation, told Kontur.

"It's like the [invention of the] tank."

Drones are reshaping troop formations and battlefield dynamics, said Kuzan.

"The bigger the target, the easier it is to strike it," he said.

Traditional trenches have become vulnerable and must now be sealed as much as possible, he added.

Ukraine has upended NATO assumptions about military standards, aviation specialist Konstantin Krivolap said.

"Ukraine has shown that in a very short period and working out of garages, it's possible to create innovative solutions that shatter all the perceptions the NATO countries had about standards or concepts," he told Kontur.

He pointed to the Magura and Marichka sea drones, which have demonstrated an ability "to destroy targets at sea that previously seemed impossible."

Traditionally, a mosquito fleet of small, fast vessels carried these tasks -- with crews at risk.

"Now we have these unmanned systems, uncrewed shuttles, so there is no risk of human loss," Krivolap said.

Surface drones have become platforms for weaponry like antiaircraft systems and machine guns, Kuzan said.

Moreover, drones are also enhancing artillery.

"They won't replace it, but [different drones] bring in exactly what they need, slowly and to the exact spot where they need to bring it, doing so with great accuracy, which even the most advanced artillery systems .... can't do. But these little drones do that," Krivolap said.

Cooperation with the West

As Ukraine transforms the nature of warfare, it is also accelerating military innovation at an unprecedented pace.

"The average time for development -- that is, for deploying innovations -- is three months," said Kuzan.

That means adapting drone technology and countermeasures within a single quarter.

"Today Ukraine is the leader on all metrics on how and with what you need to wage a war of the new technological order," he said.

Ukraine's capabilities are making it "desirable for the European countries in terms of future provision of security," said Chalenko.

On June 8, Bloomberg reported that French carmaker Renault was considering drone production in Ukraine. French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu confirmed the plan on the LCI television channel, according to TF1.

The Ukrainian and French militaries will use the drones for training under realistic combat conditions, he said.

Renault's potential involvement could advance drone development, said Krivolap.

"If Renault gets involved in this process, I think the results will be effective," he said. While earlier innovation came from improvised workshops, partnering with global companies offers "a powerful impetus because [Ukrainian developers] have the brainpower, but there isn't enough equipment [for manufacturing]."

Kuzan, however, voiced caution.

"This is all well and good for individual companies in Europe, but for NATO's security, it's insufficient," he said.

Amid a genuine threat from Russia, NATO and European states must decide "to be present in Ukraine, not just partially but closer to the front line," he said.