Where do Ukraine and Russia stand on the battlefield after four years of war?
24 February 2026
Featured on France 24
Ukraine and Russia
On the eastern front in the Donbass, the war is conducted almost entirely by drones, increasingly by AI and increasingly it will autonomous as well. Ukraine now says that they've tried not to deploy too many people at all in what they call the five kilometre kill zone. This is turning into a very, very different war, and one actually which over time will favour Ukraine, because the great advantage Russia has had is manpower, just vast numbers of people who they have and been throwing into the meat grinder. But manpower is now no longer the critical factor."

