Has drone dominance in Ukraine changed warfare forever?
This Is Why
Sky News
4.0 • 552 Ratings
🗓️ 23 February 2026
⏱️ 17 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Could the use of drones break the stalemate in the Ukraine war?
Tomorrow marks the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion - and for most of this time, it has seemed there was no end in sight.
However, technological developments have led to the increased use of drones on the frontline.
How have these remote-controlled devices become the dominant weapon on the battlefield, and have they changed the nature of warfare forever?
Gareth Barlow speaks to Sky's international correspondent Alex Rossi and Ukraine producer Azad Safarov in Kyiv about coming under fire from drones on the frontline themselves.
Producers: Sam Gruet and Paul Wilkinson
Editor: Mike Bovill
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Sky News, the full story first. |
| 0:12.4 | That is the sound there of life on the front line of the war in Ukraine in 2006. |
| 0:18.6 | But how have remote-controlled flying drones laden with explosives become the dominant |
| 0:23.2 | form of killing in the conflict? |
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| 1:03.9 | And Sonny the Sloth beaming with his milk and white chocolate features. |
| 1:08.4 | Toby the T-Rex, who's a bit green, bit scary, but charming at the same |
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| 1:23.9 | M&S food. Selected stores. |
| 1:30.3 | Jones. They're This is M&S Food, selected stores. Drones, they're difficult to spot and you can often hear them before you see them. |
| 1:35.4 | But on the battlefields of Ukraine's war against Russia's invading forces, they've become a fixture of daily life. |
| 1:41.6 | We're just heading to a new frontline position. |
| 1:45.0 | And we can warn that there is a first-person-viewed drone, an attack drone in the sky above us. |
| 1:52.0 | So the soldier we're with has told us to wait here and just try and take some cover. |
| 1:57.0 | I'm Gareth Barlow, and on today's daily, on the eve of the fourth anniversary of this conflict, |
| 2:01.4 | we're travelling to the front line, where Skye's international correspondent, Alex Rossi, |
| 2:05.6 | and Ukraine producer Azad Safarov, have been following Ukrainian soldiers. |
... |
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