The transformation of warfare

 Insider:

History books will chronicle how Ukraine has transformed modern warfare in its battles to defeat Putin's invasion, the head of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, said.

That Ukraine's Armed Forces are moving forward every day, Adm. Bauer said, and that NATO would continue to support the war-torn country in its fight to drive back the Russian invasion.

Bauer made the remarks in Oslo during the opening of a meeting of the alliance's chiefs of defense, in Norway's capital.

"Every day, we are in awe of our Ukrainian brothers and sisters in uniform," Bauer told the NATO Military Committee Conference. "They are fighting a war on an unprecedented scale, in uncharted doctrinal territory. History books will show Ukraine has transformed modern warfare. And they are moving forward every day. Every success is one step closer to victory."

Bauer was speaking at the end of a week when Ukraine had scored a series of dramatic victories against Putin's Black Sea fleet and seized ground around the fiercely contested city of Bahkmut.

Bauer noted that Russian troops continue to lose more and more ground in temporarily occupied territories, and Russia itself is suffering from the economic impact of sanctions and diplomatic isolation. Russia is forced to cooperate with unreliable international actors and increasingly depends on them.

At the same time, according to the Dutch lieutenant admiral, the Russian leadership is still convinced that it will be able to "outlast" the collective determination of the Ukrainian people and all those who stand by them.

On Sunday, Jens Stoltenberg, the head of NATO, predicted that Ukraine's allies must prepare for "a long war," per the Kyiv Post.
...

Both the Russian leadership and most of the NATO leaders thought the war would be over in a matter of days if not weeks because of the perceived disparate military resources of Ukraine.  Ukraine found ways to attack the Russians in unexpected ways and its use of drones has given Ukraine a way to take out Russia's much more expensive weapons and resources.  In previous fighting, drones had mainly been used for intel operations, but Ukraine attached explosives to them and turned them into destructive weapons that were hard for the Russians to spot and deal with.  Their use of naval drones changed naval warfare destroying much larger and more expensive ships.  Uncrewed ships sometimes called suicide drones could put much larger Russian ships out of operation.

See, also:

Russia ‘stockpiling missiles’ for winter attacks on energy infrastructure

Russia is stockpiling cruise missiles as it gears up for winter attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, according to British intelligence.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) reports Moscow is increasing its production of rockets while deploying them less frequently, amid warnings that it intends to freeze Ukraine into submission

It said: “Since April 2023, ALCM [air-launched cruise missile] expenditure rates have reduced, while Russian leaders have highlighted efforts to increase the rate of cruise missile production. Russian is therefore likely able to generate a significant stockpile of ALCMs.
...

Ukraine is testing AI drones that are capable of pinpointing targets several kilometres away.

Mykhailo Fedorov, the digital transformation minister, said on Saturday: “At the moment it’s all at the testing stage, but some drones we are buying use AI to recognise targets. In a forest, it can detect a target and recognise whether it’s a person, tank, or a certain vehicle. These technologies are being used actively.”
...

And:

 Newly set Russian military commissariats on occupied territories seize civilian equipment

Heavy daily losses in men and equipment in Ukraine have forced Russia to set up so called “military commissariats” in the occupied territories to confiscate civilian equipment for the Russian army’s use, Ukraine’s National Resistance Center, a state civil defense organization, reported on Sep 17.

The Russian military-industrial complex is unable to produce and repair equipment quickly enough at its storage bases, the center said. Civilian equipment from Ukrainian enterprises is thus being seized and transferred swiftly to Russian military units reducing unnecessary strain in Russia itself.
...

ISW reports that Russia continues the mass kidnapping of Ukraine children: 

...

Russian occupation administrations continue to forcibly deport Ukrainian children to Russia and erase Ukrainian cultural identity. The Kherson Oblast occupation administration stated on September 17 that occupation officials sent schoolchildren between the ages of nine and 17 to Moscow for the “Culture Map 4+85” all-Russian cultural and education exchange program.[69] The Kherson Oblast occupation administration reportedly plans to send thousands of local children to Moscow and St. Petersburg for similar programs by the end of 2023.[70] Occupation authorities in Donetsk, Luhansk, and Zaporizhia oblasts will also send an unspecified number of local children to Russia for these programs.[71] Russian Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova reportedly stated that at least 10,000 school children from the occupied territories will take part in the “Culture Map 4+85” program in 2023 and get “acquainted with the rich cultural history of our [Russia].”[72] These programs are likely part of Russia’s wider campaign to forcibly deport Ukrainian children to Russia and forcibly assimilate them into the Russian sociocultural sphere.
...

And:

 Ukraine drones strike Crimea, Moscow, oil depot, Russia says