The Drone Revolution

The groundbreaking story of how Ukrainian citizens built a decentralized drone movement that has transformed modern combat.

In the few years since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Ukrainians have pioneered a new form of warfare: A sophisticated drone defense built through a decentralized, innovative, cost-effective effort powered largely by civilians who became soldiers and engineers almost overnight. In this fearless, unsentimental report from the front lines, acclaimed Ukrainian journalist Nataliya Gumenyuk takes readers through streets covered in netting and across battlefields transformed by unmanned aircraft, ground robots, and sea drones, to secret workshops where former strawberry farmers and electricians, hip-hop musicians and ministers, develop and operate these new weapons, using digital technologies to outmaneuver the invading army.

Written under heavy bombardment, in part during the coldest months of the Ukrainian winter, The Drone Revolution presents an objective, realistic depiction of a new age of warfare, and explores the personal, ethical, and technological dimensions of the conflict, offering a singular dispatch from a country fighting for its survival.