Sep. 4 — Russia outperformed Ukraine in utilizing AI-powered drones, said Serhii Flash Beskrestnov, electronic warfare (EW) expert and technology advisor to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in an interview with DOU, Ukrainian tech media. 

Russia started to enable AI controls in V2U and new Molniya drones this year. For instance, in Kharkiv, Russian troops used AI-driven V2U drones used to attack gas stations in May 2026. 

“It’s a question of time when their Shaheds will also start using AI and neural networks to identify targets. It’s our future. Sooner or later, EW will cover the entire territory of Russia, so satellite navigation will become impossible there, just as in our territory. And we’ll have to search for a solution for our deep strikes to fly,” Beskrestnov said. 

AI-driven drones orient by the picture their camera sees and don’t need satellite connection or a concrete target, Flash adds. “You can tell it: move in that way, and when you’ll see the first warehouse – and here’s what it looks like — attack,” he explains. 

Beskrestnov says Ukraine also has “powerful” neural network specialists, but they focus on image processing from reconnaissance drones that is used to find “where the enemy is hiding things.” 

He adds that Ukraine started to use AI to search for targets earlier than Russia and also has prototypes of AI-driven drones, but Russia scaled the technology very fast. 

“Who knows what Molniya is, knows what’s the danger here: they put AI on the cheapest Russian drone, across the entire frontline,” Flash says. Ukraine, on the contrary, doesn’t have a cheap drone it couldn’t do this with. 

Read more

  • Ukrainian military rejects Putin’s claims of Kozacha Lopan occupation
  • Ukrainian sea drones attack port in Russia’s Sochi, damaging ship

 ⛈️ Winter is coming, and, for Ukraine, it is predicted to be awful. Please support our Kharkiv-based newsroom with a $5 coffee to help us withstand whatever Russia has prepared for us.