“For the first time in the history of this war,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced a few days ago, “Ukrainian warriors captured an enemy position using exclusively unmanned platforms.” He added, “The future is here, on the battlefield, and Ukraine is creating it.”

Zelensky’s claim has yet to be verified, as Ukrainian officials were understandably non-specific about the location and time of the alleged action. However, if Zelensky’s claims are true, it’s a significant change in warfighting. As Dr. Patrick Bury, a senior professor of warfare and counterterrorism at the University of Bath, rhetorically asked, “So, if this starts happening at scale — which is the logical conclusion — would this change the nature, rather than the character, of war?”

Former State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary Mike Benz noted, “‘Boots on the ground’ will no longer carry the political risk of sending ‘our boys’ out to fight. The temptation for robot-only ground invasions could be … enormous.”

With Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine passing its fourth anniversary in February, the Russian military’s progress has been slow going, at best. Russia still holds roughly 20% of the eastern portion of the country — not much more than it gained in the first few days of the war.

While outmanned and outgunned, Ukraine has valiantly fought and been able to thwart much of Putin’s militaristic aims, thanks in large part to Ukraine’s use and ongoing development of drone technology.

By employing this drone warfare, Ukraine has been able to severely blunt and stymie the Russian military’s traditional warfare tactics. The Russian casualty rate has not been this high since World War II, and it appears to be only getting higher.

Russian media outlets recently acknowledged the rise of a new generation of Ukrainian drones, dubbed “Martians.” According to reports, these drones operate both during the day and night, are silent right up until the moment they strike, are undetectable by conventional detection devices, and appear resistant to electronic warfare. Furthermore, they are fast, reaching speeds of up to 186 miles per hour, and may be controlled by Artificial Intelligence rather than human operators.

Ukraine is well on its way to establishing drone supremacy in this war. Its manufacturing output is now 1.3 strike drones for every Russian strike drone. As noted above, Ukraine’s drone tech is also besting Russia’s — 32% of its drones are electronic warfare resistant, compared to just 24% of Russia’s drones.

Ukraine is effectively establishing a drone army that may be second to none. If Zelensky’s recent claim is accurate, the probability of Putin holding on to the territory Russia currently occupies, let alone achieving his goal of conquering all of Ukraine, may quickly disappear.

It should not be overlooked that one of the primary reasons Ukraine has been so successful in its drone warfare is that it has access to Starlink, while Russia does not. Superior communication and coordination capabilities in warfare almost always trump superior numbers and armaments. Ukraine is demonstrating this principle in spades.