Drones add a lethal impact to war in Ukraine

 Business Insider:

Trench warfare, relentless artillery, gains measured in mere meters, and heavy casualties on both sides. The battlefields of Ukraine resemble those of World War I, but with a new and terrifying reality — the incessant buzzing of drones, harbingers of death and destruction that are constantly watching from above.

The Ukraine war has essentially become "World War I with 21st century ISR [Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance]," Mark Cancian, a retired US Marine Corps colonel and senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Insider.

Both Ukraine and Russia have used drones of all shapes and sizes to spy on each other and to strike targets on a scale that's never been seen before, and it's changing the face of warfare. Drones are being used to locate enemy positions and direct fire, crash into and destroy buildings in "kamikaze" attacks, and drop bombs on tanks.

With much of the fighting occurring in rural areas with large open fields that are often dangerous to cross — a modern equivalent of WWI's horror-filled "No Man's Land" — drones have proven to be an extremely useful and deadly tool. Both sides are using drones equipped with cameras or other sensors that offer a livestream that can be watched on a laptop or digital tablet to scout out the enemy and coordinate attacks from afar.

Drones have played an important role in adjusting artillery fire and confirming that targets were hit or destroyed. They're an eye in the sky on the battlefield in Ukraine that's making artillery even deadlier.
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There is much more including a description of the drones used, many of which are also used to hit civilian targets.  Drones are providing intelligence that was previously not accessible and also used to attack.

See, also:

Russia’s ‘Elite’ Shadow Army Edges Into Complete Collapse

Tens of thousands of fighters rounded up to fight in Ukraine for Wagner Group, the Russian private mercenary fighting corps, have gone missing or died, according to a Russian non-governmental organization.

While Wagner Group recruited approximately 50,000 fighters in recent months, including from prisons, only 10,000 fighters remain fighting at the front for Wagner, Olga Romanova, the head of Russia Behind Bars, told My Russian Rights, according to The Moscow Times.

“According to our data, 42-43 thousand [prisoners] were recruited by the end of December. Now they are, most likely, already over 50,000,” Romanova said. “Of these, 10,000 are fighting at the front, because all the rest are either killed… or missing, or deserted, or surrendered.”
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And:

 Russia no longer has enough weapons for units of newly drafted people Ukraine's Defence Intelligence

And:

 Will Putin survive his 'catastrophic' Ukraine war?

When Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his three-pronged invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February 2022, his goal was to erase Ukraine as a sovereign nation in a matter of days. At the time, it seemed a plausible goal, in Russia and in the West. Nearly a year later, Ukraine's survival is a much safer bet than Putin's.

Ukraine has systemically and strategically taken back half the territory Russia seized, inflicting humiliating loss after debilitating setback. As Ukraine's battlefield victories pile up, the U.S. and its NATO allies are giving it increasingly sophisticated weapons.

• SEE MORE Why Western tanks might help Ukraine beat Russia
• SEE MORE Russia's 'catastrophic' missing men problem
• SEE MORE What would actually happen if Putin hit Ukraine with tactical nukes?

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