Valerii Zaluzhnyi: Evolving warfare is reshaping global security principles

by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine (2021–2024) Valerii Zaluzhnyi at the UK – Ukraine Defence Tech Forum.  April 25, 2025

Source: Ukrainska Pravda

It is a great honor for me to be once again within the walls of a British think tank that specializes on international security and military affairs. Today we will talk about them. Today it is extremely important. 

First of all, probably everyone present in this room has understood that we live in times of global changes. So the reason is not me, who commented on this last year in the walls of Chatham House, but a whole range of factors that have surfaced in the 21st century. Especially the war in Ukraine, which has become not only the bloodiest act of violence in the 21st century so far, but also the driving force behind many forces that have already led to changes in the world order. This change has already happened. And it doesn’t depend on whether modern politicians want to see it or not. 

Secondly, in a world that has already changed and continues to change, the global security system has also changed, against the wishes of the same politicians. It has transformed not only because the geopolitical space is changing, but also because the very force on which this security system was based has changed due to the war in Ukraine.

Whether you want to believe it or not, whether you have contracts for tanks or helicopters for the next 10 years or are still planning to sign them, the nature of military power has already changed. It’s a pity that this is well understood in Ukraine, Russia, China, but not at all understood in other places. I won’t say in which ones today. It doesn’t matter anymore. 

So we will talk about Ukrainian technologies. Who will need them, except for Ukraine, will obviously be decided by politicians. I will only outline what they are and how they work. 

Although, I would also like to note that they are most relevant now for building the defense capabilities of Europe. First of all, because of the reformatting of the Euro-Atlantic security space that has begun.

So, about technology.

The Russian-Ukrainian war completely changed the nature of warfare. One morning in the summer of 2023, when Ukrainian troops, using available doctrines and existing weapons, were overcoming enemy defense lines meter by meter, drones appeared in the sky, which caused the transformation of the entire architecture of the battle. Reconnaissance, strike drones, and drones that served artillery fire, combined with a situational awareness system, made the battlefield completely transparent. All this provided unlimited opportunities for delivering high-precision strikes at the tactical level.

Gradually, as in World War I, this war entered a stupor. Later, in 2024, the development of scientific and technological progress led to a situation where drones were no longer the only means of striking targets not only in front of the front line, but also in operational depth. This made it impossible to find any equipment, firepower, or reserves beyond even the front line. 

Precision strikes on logistics routes have become commonplace today. Moreover, such strikes are already part of the tactics of forcing out of positions.

Thus, due to absolute transparency, a 10-15 kilometer zone of continuous death was formed in front of the front line. It is no longer surprising when a drone hunts not for a group target or an armored object, but even for an individual soldier. By the way, this zone is constantly expanding, as is the probability of being destroyed.

Why has it become possible? Once again, I repeat, the reasons for this are as follows.

Firstly, the rapid development of electronic warfare (EW) means. It was thanks to the development of electronic warfare that it was possible to neutralize the ability of satellite technologies, radio- and GPS-guided munitions to deliver high-precision strikes at the operational level. The effectiveness of expensive missiles and precision-guided munitions has dropped to zero.

Second, a large number of visual reconnaissance and strike drones of tactical and operational levels have appeared on the battlefield.

As a result, tactics and operational art underwent significant changes.

At the operational level the war has reached a stalemate. Deep maneuvers or strikes to operational depth have become impossible. Largely because the confrontation between unmanned systems on the one hand and electronic warfare and air defense means on the other continues. Therefore, classic offensive operations and offensive actions have not only lost their effectiveness, but have become almost suicidal.

Over time, even offensive actions by small, highly mobile, and technologically equipped tactical groups coordinated with situational awareness, support, electronic warfare, and air defense systems became highly ineffective.

Thus, we can say with confidence that:

1. Thanks to unmanned systems and digital technologies, the traditional and familiar types of weapons that defined the nature of war for decades have become history. They are gone.
2. Armored vehicles, which have been the basis of offensive operations since 1915, have become defenseless against cheap drones, and therefore, their use in other types of combat is impossible today.
3. High-precision weapons that used GPS positioning have lost their effectiveness due to the development of electronic warfare.
4. Air defense is undergoing perhaps the biggest transformation. The emergence of a large number of small and cheap drones has made the use of extremely expensive missiles for air defense systems economically impractical.
5. The airspace above the battlefield became inaccessible to manned aircraft and turned it into an auxiliary means of air defense. Aviation needs modernization and the ability to conduct reconnaissance and strike from completely different distances.
6. The sea space has gradually been occupied by naval drones. Now powerful ships hide in protected ports. This is not just technology. All of this requires a complete rethinking of the forms and means of application. As a result, the military doctrine was revised. This will lead to a revision of the principles of organizing the Armed Forces and, ultimately, to defense planning.

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