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David Kirichenko Profile picture
@DVKirichenko
Oct 3, 2025 • 30 tweets • 7 min read • Read on X
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1/ Drone superpower Ukraine is teaching NATO how to defend against Russia.

At this week’s European Political Community Summit in Copenhagen, NATO leaders made clear that Ukraine is the world’s top expert in anti-drone warfare.

Kyiv is growing stronger technologically.

🧵 Image
2/ Danish PM Mette Frederiksen: “The only expert right now in the world when it comes to anti-drone capacities is Ukraine, because they are fighting the Russian drones almost every day.”

NATO’s Mark Rutte agreed: Ukraine is a “powerhouse” of military innovation.
3/ When Russia invaded in 2022, Ukraine couldn’t match Moscow’s manpower or firepower.

Instead, it turned to the courage of its own people and domestic tech.

Cheap, lethal drones became the equalizer—transforming the battlefield and creating the infamous “Drone Wall.”
4/ The Drone Wall changed everything.

Any Russian soldier or tank that breaks cover risks instant destruction.

This has stalled major offensives for years, preventing Russia from massing troops and armor.
5/ Ukraine also revolutionized naval warfare.

Naval drones smashed the Black Sea blockade, forced Russia’s fleet out of Crimea, and are now even shooting down helicopters.

NATO navies are taking note.
6/ Kyiv’s long-range drones have brought the war home to Russia.

- Oil refineries burning
- Logistics hubs hit
- Fuel shortages across Russia
- Rationing + record gas prices

7/ Ukraine's ex-commander Zaluzhnyi:

“Ukraine must compensate for its relative lack of resources by constantly introducing military innovations.”

The Russia-Ukraine war is now a relentless race to innovate sometimes new weapons face countermeasures within weeks.
8/ This intensity turbo-charged Ukraine’s domestic drone industry, putting it far ahead of Western counterparts.

To catch up, NATO must lean heavily on Ukraine’s lessons.

Training is already underway with Denmark, Poland, Britain, Romania, and others.
9/ Meanwhile, a Ukrainian delegation is reportedly in the United States this week to negotiate a landmark deal with the Trump administration that would see Kyiv sharing battle-tested drone technology with the US. wsj.com/world/europe/t…
10/ Ukraine’s war is the world’s first full-scale drone war.

Its experience makes it a key partner for NATO and an indispensable ally in the defense of Europe.
End of the 🧵

Source: atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainea…
Drones dominate the battlefield
Ukraine’s reach is expanding and becoming more effective
1000km+ is getting more frequent for Kyiv.
Ukrainian naval drones enforcing the kinetic sanctions
Putin needs to come to terms with a new reality.

Sochi came under a drone attack while Russian dictator Vladimir Putin was in the city on a visit, delivering a speech at the Valdai Forum.

newsukraine.rbc.ua/news/drones-at…
Ukraine's drone defense against helicopters
And the kill zone keeps expanding too.
Moscow’s fuel will be increasingly targeted.
Ukraine since 2023 has been preparing for the long-war, building long range drone bombers.
Ukraine’s drone wall forces Russian soldiers into deadly meatgrinder assaults.
No surprises there. Kyiv continues to advance technologically.
Happy birthday, Putin.

Ukraine launched a massive overnight drone attack on Russia, striking a refinery in the Siberian city of Tyumen—more than 2,000 kilometers from the Ukrainian border—in one of the deepest strikes since the war began. tvpworld.com/89340707/russi…
Russia has imposed a 24-hour blackout on mobile data and texts for all foreign SIM cards entering its networks, Belarusian officials said.

The move follows Moscow’s plan to block drones and automated systems from using foreign mobile connections inside Russia. Image
Indeed, peace through strength.
Quite the development.
Interesting news.
Good progress on the target selection and impact.
On Oct. 20, Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) published a video of a drone strike on one of Russia's most advanced anti-UAV radar systems which guarded occupied Crimea. t.me/DIUkraine/7134
Target list expands.

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More from @DVKirichenko

David Kirichenko Profile picture
Feb 10
1/ Panic spread across Russian military channels in early February after Starlink imposed new restrictions on satellite communications.

Unregistered terminals in Ukraine were disconnected following mandatory verification announced by Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.

🧵 Image
2/ Russian soldiers quickly took to social media to complain.

One was filmed kicking his Starlink terminal. Another used it as a dining table.

“In a single night we completely descended into the Stone Age,” one soldier said.
3/ Within days, Ukrainian electronic warfare expert Serhii Beskrestnov reported Russian assaults stalling across multiple sectors.

“The enemy has a catastrophe,” he said.

Cloudflare data showed a clear drop in Starlink activity.
Read 26 tweets
David Kirichenko Profile picture
Jan 26
1/ The scramble for battlefield drone experience has become a global phenomenon.

Ukraine is now the world’s classroom for modern war.

🧵 Image
2/ While embedded with Colombian soldiers on Ukraine’s front lines, several told me they had fought cartels and insurgents before.

They had not seen warfare under drone dominated skies before.

That experience is now very valuable around the world. cepa.org/article/libert…
3/ Ukraine is where the learning is happening.

Ukrainian drones have struck targets more than 1,200 miles away, including a Russian shadow fleet oil tanker and even a submarine parked in a Russian port.

Kyiv regularly bombs targets across Russia.

Read 25 tweets
David Kirichenko Profile picture
Dec 29, 2025
1/ Cheap unmanned systems have reshaped modern warfare.

Ukraine has built a drone wall on land, forced Russia’s Black Sea Fleet into retreat at sea, and struck deep inside Russia.

Now those battlefield lessons matter far beyond Ukraine — including in the Arctic.

🧵 Image
2/ As Moscow accelerates its race for Arctic resources and intensifies pressure on NATO airspace, the High North is becoming a frontline.

As Mike Pompeo warned in 2019, the Arctic is now an arena of global power competition — and Washington wants to regain dominance.
3/ Russia’s Arctic strategy is driven by insecurity: fear of losing military dominance as ice melts and NATO expands, and fear of economic isolation as sanctions choke access to Western tech.

Finland and Sweden joining NATO only sharpened those anxieties. Image
Read 19 tweets
David Kirichenko Profile picture
Dec 23, 2025
1/ Ukraine says it has disabled a Russian submarine using an underwater drone—marking what Kyiv describes as the first successful combat strike of its kind.

It took a multi-step phase to execute.

🧵

2/ According to Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), the attack damaged a Russian Kilo-class submarine in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, a key launch platform for Kalibr cruise missiles.
3/ The strike reportedly used an underwater drone system known as Sub Sea Baby. Ukrainian officials claimed the submarine was effectively put out of action.

Russia denies that the submarine suffered extensive damage. Image
Read 9 tweets
David Kirichenko Profile picture
Dec 1, 2025
1/ Ukrainian Naval drones hit two Russian shadow oil tankers off Turkey's coast on Nov 28, expanding Ukraine's kinetic sanctions program.

The strikes targeted vessels carrying around $70 million worth of oil off the coast of Turkey.

🧵 Image
2/ The targets: Kairos & Virat -- both flying Gambian flags but identified by Western authorities as part of Russia's "shadow fleet" designed to evade sanctions.
3/ The strikes occurred 28-35 nautical miles off Turkey's Kocaeli province, well beyond Ukraine's previous operational range in the northern Black Sea.

This represents the technological progress Kyiv continues to make, and also, increased boldness.
Read 18 tweets
David Kirichenko Profile picture
Nov 17, 2025
1/ Ukraine’s drone revolution is forcing Europe to confront an uncomfortable truth: you can’t defend a continent with million-dollar missiles against $20k drones.

What Ukraine learned through survival, Europe is learning through necessity.

🧵 Image
2/ Across Europe, cheap drones have shut down airports and crossed borders.

Officials say Russia is likely behind some of these flights, testing how NATO reacts.

Hybrid warfare grows: telegraph.co.uk/world-news/202…
3/ The cost gap is huge:

• A Patriot interceptor can cost several million for example.

• A Shahed-style drone can cost $30k–$60k

Not many other options are scalable, even deploying helicopters across the front.

Europe can’t win trading expensive shots for cheap targets.
Read 14 tweets

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