A senior Ukrainian commander has warned that Europe must start preparing now for future conflicts by integrating unmanned systems into defence planning, training and military production.
The Ukrainian commander argued that lessons from the battlefield are already pointing towards a radically different model of warfare.
Yevhen Lasiichuk, commander of Ukraine’s 7th Air Assault Corps, told the Yalta European Strategy forum that European governments should not wait for a direct military threat before investing in technologies that are already reshaping combat in Ukraine.
“Based on Ukraine’s experience, our partners already have to think and plan today: build advanced training centres and production facilities, and develop defensive lines that take the unmanned component into account,” the brigadier general said.
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Lasiichuk said Ukraine had repeatedly developed battlefield technological solutions while its international partners helped scale them into capabilities for the Ukrainian armed forces.
That experience, he argued, should now be treated as a warning for Europe as it considers how to prepare for future wars.
Unmanned systems have become central to Ukraine’s military operations, with Lasiichuk estimating that around 80 per cent of strikes on the battlefield are now carried out using drones.
The figure underscores how quickly relatively inexpensive unmanned platforms, including increasingly sophisticated systems incorporating artificial intelligence, are changing the economics and tactics of warfare.
For European militaries, Lasiichuk said, the implication was that drone capabilities could no longer be treated as an emerging technology to adopt only when circumstances demanded it.
“The conclusions are simple. Build up your unmanned capabilities now, not when you need them,” the commander of the 7th Air Assault Corps urged.
His warning comes as Ukraine seeks to translate battlefield experience into a wider technological advantage, while its European partners face pressure to expand defence spending and rebuild industrial capacity after decades of relatively limited investment.
Lasiichuk argued that Ukraine was effectively paying the cost of learning how modern warfare is evolving, creating an opportunity for allied countries to avoid repeating the same mistakes.
The commander said Ukraine was paying a high price for experience that could ultimately save its partners’ lives.
Ukraine’s armed forces regained the battlefield initiative during the summer of 2026, according to the source, with AI-powered drones used in mid-range strikes playing a role in the shift.
For Europe, the message is increasingly stark, the next war may be decided not only by tanks, aircraft and missiles, but by who can deploy autonomous systems at scale.
Most of Europe has national service and more investment has been immediately made for their respective militaries with drones and producing ammunition.
Meanwhile the British Defence Secretary Wes Streeting who has no military background has insisted that military exercises must be stopped as the UK must “live within our means.”
This has left the British Armed Forces sat around “twiddling their thumbs” which has angered defence chiefs as war is knocking on the UK’s door and troops are unable to prepare.
Mark Francois, the Conservative MP for Rayleigh and Wickford, questioned Streeting in the Commons about reports that Army training programmes had been cut as the government sought to contain spending.
Streeting rejected suggestions that training had stopped, while arguing that Britain’s armed forces needed to adapt rapidly to lessons emerging from the war in Ukraine.
“We are seeing the rapid evolution of modern warfare, and we are actively learning from our Ukrainian friends — their ingenuity, their expertise,” Streeting said.
“It’s also important we recognise the extraordinary capacity they have under the toughest of circumstances.”
He added that military training was continuing, but acknowledged that some activities had been deprioritised as the government sought to concentrate resources on areas it considered most operationally valuable.
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