Russia has canceled its main naval parade of the year. Saint Petersburg has suspended the event scheduled for 27 July 27 in Saint Petersburg, the Center for Countering Disinformation under Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council reports. 

Symbols of power disappear

Due to the cancellation, the traditional passage of ships along the Neva River will not take place, and the salute from the Peter and Paul Fortress will remain a memory this year.

The Center for Countering Disinformation claims, “The Kremlin can no longer pretend that the war does not affect the Russian rear. The war impacts all spheres of life in Russia, even symbolic and loud events like the naval parade.”

Russian ships don’t feel safe even in their own ports

The parade cancellation may be linked to the military leadership’s fears due to real losses suffered by the fleet. An event meant to demonstrate Russia’s power now risks having the opposite effect, causing discouragement and fear.

Against this backdrop, the decision to scrap and send Russia’s only aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, to the scrapyard is particularly telling, further highlighting the problems of the Russian fleet.

Ukraine’s Bulava or Mace middle-strike drone hit all assigned targets in Donetsk Oblast during a live test under heavy jamming and camouflage. The Bulava middle-strike drone, developed by Ukrainian company DeViro, achieved five direct hits in five launches near Pokrovsk, according to RFE/RL’s Donbas Realii. The test marks a major step in Ukraine’s effort to field a combat-ready alternative to Russia’s Lancet.

Five-for-five success in frontline test

According to soldier, call sign Serzh Marko, whose crew took part in the test, the drone was deployed in Donetsk Oblast’s most radio-electronic warfare-heavy zone near Selydove. Despite intense electronic warfare and camouflaged targets, Bulava reportedly scored five precise hits. Feedback from the operators was sent directly to the manufacturer.

The drone’s warhead weighs 3.6 kilograms—600 grams more than the heaviest Lancet variant. It combines cumulative, penetrative, and thermobaric elements, increasing effectiveness against armored and fortified targets.

Bulava’s role in middle-strike tactics

Military personnel classify Bulava as a middle-strike weapon, designed to operate at ranges between 100 and 300 kilometers from the front line. This category bridges the gap between FPV drones, which typically strike within 25 kilometers, and deep-strike drones capable of hitting targets over 400 kilometers away.

“Middle-strike” terminology remains fluid, but Ukrainian forces are shaping this doctrine in real-time. According to Serzh Marko from the 59th Assault Brigade’s drone unit, these drones are used beyond the third echelon of defense — over 100 kilometers from the line of contact. The first two echelons are 0-15 km and 15-25 km. Fellow soldier Ihor Lutsenko added that any effective strike beyond 25–30 kilometers should qualify as middle-strike in practical battlefield terms.

Military consultant Inokentii Razumov explained that the goal of middle-strike is to degrade Russian rear operations — targeting logistics columns, artillery, air defense systems, and EW equipment. Successful use of middle-strike drones can prevent Russian forces from consolidating behind the front and preparing for assaults.

Hits on S-300 or Buk launchers, for instance, can open the way for deep-strike drones to reach strategic objectives deeper in Russian-occupied territory.

Challenges and advantages

Bulava is equipped with an X-shaped airframe and advanced targeting, allowing it to strike masked targets even under jamming. Each mission relies on a scout drone to find targets and relays to maintain control at distance. Operators stressed that success depends on 24/7 aerial reconnaissance and tight coordination between scout and strike teams.

Russia’s head start

Russia has used the Lancet drone since 2022, later adding variants like Italmas, KUB-2, and AI-guided systems. The enemy relies on mass production of cheap UAVs like Molniya-2 to overwhelm defenses. According to Donbas Realii, these systems helped Russian forces force a Ukrainian withdrawal from the Kursk foothold, later redeploying to Donetsk for deeper strikes.

Scaling the solution

Despite Bulava’s proven success, Ukrainian forces say the drone is not being procured in large numbers.

“We asked for it again and again. No response,” said Serzh Marko, blaming past Ministry of Defense decisions for ignoring battlefield needs.

Procurement bottlenecks through the Defense Procurement Agency and shifts in leadership have delayed delivery of ready-to-use drones.

Troops say a clear strategy for middle-strike use is still missing inside Ukraine’s newly formed Unmanned Systems Forces. Without it, even proven systems like Bulava risk being underused.

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Next month, US troops will gather at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, for a new kind of “Top Gun” school—this one focused on Ukraine-style, kamikaze first-person-view (FPV) drones, Defense One reports. The event is part of the Pentagon’s Technology Readiness Experimentation (T-REX) program, which tests cutting-edge unmanned systems under simulated urban combat conditions.

The urgency reflects Ukraine’s rapid drone advances. In late 2023, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense ramped up production and training of FPV drones, which quickly became a cornerstone of its battlefield strategy. By February, the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) estimated these drones accounted for 70% of Russia’s battlefield losses—forcing a recalibration of US strategy.

Alexander Lovett, deputy assistant secretary of defense for prototyping and experimentation, said the US military is now building out FPV drone schools across the services. At T-REX, teams will square off in “red versus blue” drone battles, with counter-drone technologies also on display.

Ukraine’s drone playbook inspires US strategy

Ukraine’s success has shown that cheap, agile FPV drones can deliver outsized impact. While consumer drones have been used in war since Russia’s 2014 invasion, Ukraine’s scale and innovation pushed them from novelty to necessity.

Today, Ukraine is producing around 200,000 drones a month, according to CNA analyst Sam Bendett—a pace the US has yet to match.

Replicator falls short, procurement gets decentralized

The Pentagon’s Replicator program, launched in 2023 to scale low-cost autonomous drones, has so far fallen short of expectations. In response, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a shift: allowing units to procure drones directly, without waiting on traditional acquisition pipelines.

“We need to be world class, and we will,” Hegseth said, calling the move a way to “open the aperture” to more suppliers and systems.

“The beginning of American drone dominance”

Emil Michael, the new undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, described the Pentagon drone showcase this week as “the beginning of American drone dominance.” But he acknowledged the US lags behind Ukraine, Russia, and especially China.

A major factor is training: Ukrainian forces regularly operate in jamming-heavy environments, something the US struggles to replicate due to FAA and FCC restrictions on jamming, which protect civilian networks.

Michael said drone manufacturers must internalize lessons from real-world conflicts like Ukraine’s. “That’s sort of endemic to becoming a drone manufacturer in the [United States],” he said.

Ukrainians to observe and advise at T-REX

To bridge that gap, Ukrainian military personnel will attend T-REX, offering firsthand feedback. One organizer told Defense One the feedback will likely be “blunt.”

“If you are not operating in Ukraine, then your stuff is not serious,” said Brandon Tseng, co-founder of Shield AI, which works with both US and Ukrainian forces. He noted many companies failed to survive Ukraine’s harsh electronic warfare environment.

Lovett echoed that challenge: “We have limited places where we can do that,” he said, referencing jamming exercises. The Pentagon is working with regulators to open more test ranges, but change will be slow.

Creative autonomy as the path forward

According to Bendett, the US will likely never replicate China’s DJI dominance, but can lead through decentralized innovation. “We have to shake loose our own creativity,” he said.

Allowing commanders to choose their own drones—and learning directly from Ukrainian combat experience—may be key.

“We’ve opened the door for rapid acquisition,” said Michael. “If you’re a smart builder… you could build to those specifications.”

On the night of 20 July, drones targeted multiple Russian regions, including Moscow, in what officials described as the most significant drone assault on the capital since early May.

Russian air defenses shot down 19 drones over the Moscow Oblast during the overnight assault, with debris igniting vehicles and striking the upper floors of a residential building in the suburb of Zelenograd, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.

In total, 98 Ukrainian drones were intercepted across eight regions during the 20 July attack.

According to Russian news agency Agentstvo, Telegram channels linked to Russian security forces shared video footage of the burning cars and building damage. However, it remains unclear where the drones were heading exactly before their fragments hit civilian areas.

“There were no serious damages or casualties,” Moscow Mayor Sobyanin stated, according to reports from Russian media outlets.

However, the attack significantly disrupted air traffic across the region, with authorities implementing flight restrictions at four major airports: Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo and Zhukovsky. Additional restrictions affected airports in Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod and Kaluga. Russian aviation authority Rosaviatsia reported that 134 flights were diverted to alternative airfields due to these safety measures.

According to Russian Telegram channel Astra, passenger crowds formed at Sheremetyevo airport, though Rosaviatsia’s press service disputed claims of significant passenger accumulations at Vnukovo airport.

This marks the ninth day Moscow has faced drone attacks since early July, representing a significant escalation in Ukraine’s aerial campaign against the Russian capital.

Meanwhile, Russian forces launched widespread drone attacks across several Ukrainian regions on the night of 20 July, using 57 Shahed drones and decoy aircraft, resulting in at least one civilian death and several injuries while causing extensive damage to residential areas.

The deadliest incidents occurred in Sumy Oblast, where a 78-year-old woman died and three homes were destroyed, and rescue efforts were hampered by follow-up Russian strikes targeting first responders.

Ukrainian factories building drones to down Russian aircraft are changing the face of modern air defense — one low-cost interceptor at a time. On 18 July, the New York Post published a reportage about its journalists visiting two drone production facilities in Kyiv. The publication got an inside look at how Ukraine is confronting drone warfare with ingenuity and affordability.

Kyiv engineers race to scale drone interceptors

The New York Post says Nomad Drones and a second, anonymous company are leading a new surge in Ukrainian factories building drones. These interceptors are crafted specifically to neutralize Russian-launched Shaheds, which cost around $50,000 apiece. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s new models are dramatically cheaper — priced between $3,000 and $7,000, depending on type and size.

Nomad Drones co-founder and CEO Andrii Fedorov explained the concept to the NYP.

“In Ukraine, there is a phrase people have been using — that ‘quantity’ becomes ‘quality,’” he said.

According to Fedorov, deploying a $1 million missile to destroy a $50,000 drone makes no economic sense.

“If you have 20 drones, then the capacity costs you, say, $40,000 to shoot it down.”

Cost-effective jamming-proof drones

Nomad’s aircraft are designed for cost-effective lethality. Equipped with fiber-optic cables, they avoid jamming and reach enemy drones undetected by radars. Each unit carries explosives and can be detonated remotely on approach. That ability is critical against fast-moving targets like Shaheds, often launched in swarms across Ukrainian airspace.

A second firm — unnamed in the report due to repeated Russian strikes on its facility — builds a meter-long missile-style interceptors. That company continues operating despite multiple attacks.

“It’s all about cost-effectiveness,” an employee said. “Western technologies are so cool and modern — they are expensive at the same time.”

Built for war, priced for survival

The strategy centers on affordability, speed, and scalable output. Nomad Drones and others now produce tens of thousands of interceptors monthly. These low-cost systems are not meant to endure — they’re made to fly once, explode midair, and protect civilian lives.

Tis model contrasts sharply with existing Western air defense systems, which rely heavily on expensive precision strikes. With Russia launching over 700 drones in a single night last week, Ukrainian engineers have prioritized high-volume production as the only viable path forward.

Romania wants to build drones with Ukraine, but production is delayed until 2026 due to lack of military funding. Digi24 reports that Romania’s Defense Ministry wants to launch a joint drone-manufacturing project, but no funds are available this year to begin construction or procurement.

Romania wants to build drones with Ukraine, but budget delay blocks start

Romania wants to build drones with Ukraine, aiming to manufacture UAVs inside Romania and eventually export them to other European countries. Digi24 reports that the Romanian Ministry of Defense has confirmed it is set to negotiate with officials from Kyiv. The two sides aim to establish a co-production plan for drones, following models already used by Ukraine in partnerships with Denmark and Norway.

According to Digi24, the business plan is not complex: Romania would purchase the technical specifications of drones that Ukraine has developed during its war experience. Those designs, proven in combat, would serve as the base for production inside Romania.

The proposed facility would likely be located in Brașov, Transylvania. Romanian and Ukrainian engineers would cooperate on-site to assemble the UAVs. Most of the drones would enter service with the Romanian army, but many would also be intended for sale across Europe, per the reported plan.

Factory plan awaits funding, likely in 2026

Despite alignment on the concept, the project faces a major obstacle: Romania currently lacks the funding to implement it. Digi24 notes that while Ukraine is willing to move forward and eager to secure income from such cooperation, Romania cannot commit to payments this year.

The next opportunity to fund the drone partnership would come with Romania’s 2026 defense budget. Until then, the joint production initiative remains in the planning phase.

The Russia-Ukraine war is reshaping the nature of modern conflict—and offering a glimpse into how future wars in space may unfold. In a recent Forbes column, Charles Beames, a defense expert and former Principal Director for Space and Intelligence Systems at the US Department of Defense, argues that Ukraine’s effective use of inexpensive, networked drones carries urgent lessons for US space strategy.

“In Ukraine, low-cost, high-impact drones are enabling Ukraine not only to defend itself but to strike deep into Russian territory,” Beames writes.

It’s not just the drones—it’s the network

Beames emphasizes that the decisive factor isn’t the drones themselves, but how they’re used together.

“The true force multiplier isn’t just the drones themselves — it’s the network effect,” he notes.

Real-time coordination between drones, sensors, and software has given Ukraine a tactical edge against a larger, more conventional Russian force.

Rethinking the rules of war—for space

Beames argues that three classic principles of war—mass, maneuver, and surprise—must be redefined in the digital age:

• Mass now comes from quantity: “Offensive and defensive power can now be delivered through hundreds or thousands of small, smart platforms.”
• Maneuver is driven by software, not just physical movement.
• Surprise doesn’t require stealth aircraft—it can come from commercial tech used in unexpected ways.

Space needs scale—not just sophistication

Beames says the US must rethink its space posture.

“Winning won’t depend on how exquisite each satellite is, but on how many we have in orbit and how intelligently they operate as an integrated whole.”

He adds that small, proliferated satellite constellations—especially when networked—are now a form of strategic deterrence.

The US lost the drone race. Space can’t be next.

Beames criticizes the US for missing the commercial drone revolution, which he says has now largely moved to China.

“We now face the difficult task of rebuilding critical drone manufacturing for national security.”

Still, he sees progress in space. The Pentagon’s Space Development Agency has certified nine new US small satellite builders in six years—a sign of momentum Beames says must accelerate, not stall.

“We must build on that momentum and not slow down as the GAO is calling for,” he warns, referring to recent Government Accountability Office reviews that could constrain the Space Development Agency’s pace.

The future of war is connected, fast, and agile

Beames closes with a clear message: the side that adapts faster, moves quicker, and fields more networked platforms will dominate future conflicts—on Earth and in space.

“Resilience, speed, and the creative use of proliferated, connected technology” will define the next high ground, he writes.

Skyeton, the Ukrainian developer of the well-known long-range Raybird unmanned aerial vehicles, which have logged over 350,000 hours of combat flights, has become a target of technological espionage by unscrupulous European companies, The Telegraph reports. 

Roman Kniazhenko, the company’s CEO, reveals this. According to him, Western manufacturers visit “as guests” with alleged proposals for cooperation, but instead they are trying to steal production secrets. 

“Then they do beautiful pitch books, beautiful presentations about how they’re operating in Ukraine. But actually they’ve done just a couple of flights in Lviv [the western city more than 1,000km from the front line],” he says. 

Sometimes, Kniazhenko continues, he sees in their presentations, “literally my own words, without any change.”

He also emphasizes that while Ukrainian drones withstand real combat conditions, taking off even from puddles, European governments are spending billions on products that merely simulate combat effectiveness. 

“The big problem, after that, is that billions of dollars go to the companies that still don’t have any idea what they’re doing,” says Kniazhenko. 

Meanwhile, the Skyeton team, currently 500 people strong, works 24/7 developing drones for the toughest frontline conditions.

One example of its effectiveness was an operation in the Black Sea: Ukrainian special forces went missing at night, and a Raybird, with its lights on, was able to locate them in the dark waters.

“From one side, everything looks perfect for us. But it was like hell, a night of hell. When you are destroying something you feel good for a couple seconds. But when you know that you saved someone. Like, it’s a totally different feeling,” explains Kniazhenko. 

He also urges the West to fund the production of Ukrainian drones on its territory instead of starting a startup from scratch. Every country has the technologies it is good at, he stresses, adding that for Ukraine, it is clear that it is drones. 

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Russian airports crippled by airspace threat canceled 171 flights in Moscow alone. Operations in five other cities were suspended entirely. The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) said that “external interference” disrupted airport functions. Authorities cited safety as the reason for halting air traffic. It is unclear, if the airports have been under a cyberattack or the agency just uses the vague language to describe Ukrainian drones in the airspace.

Sheremetyevo, Moscow’s main airport and Russia’s largest, suffered the largest collapse. As of 18:00 Moscow time on 6 July, 171 flights were canceled. Another 56 flights faced delays exceeding two hours, according to Rosaviatsia.

Around 15,000 passengers were preparing for departure at Sheremetyevo. They waited in crowded terminals as staff worked to stabilize operations.

St. Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod airports crippled too

Pulkovo airport in St. Petersburg also faced major disruptions. According to Rosaviatsia, 90 flights were canceled and 37 delayed by over two hours.

Officials restricted access to the clean zone at Pulkovo. They aimed to reduce passenger congestion during the shutdown.

The Nizhny Novgorod Chkalov airport saw the most prolonged disruption. Authorities canceled 26 flights and delayed 13 others. Staff at Chkalov increased shift capacity to speed up boarding and baggage handling.

Smaller Russian cities halt airport activity completely

Airports in Ivanovo (Yuzhny), Kaluga (Grabtsevo), Pskov, and Tambov (Donskoye) stopped all flight services. Rosaviatsia said these closures were due to “periodic interference” from outside. All five airports had no incoming or outgoing flights. 

Authorities claim the situation is stable and controllable, use trains as fallback

Rosaviatsia claimed the situation was under control. The agency stated that Russia’s aviation system had “enough resources” to manage disruptions.

Russia’s Deputy Transport Minister Vladimir Poteshkin visited Sheremetyevo twice that day. He checked airline operations and crowd control measures.

Rail routes between major cities began to absorb stranded travelers. Authorities claimed over 8,000 train seats were available between St. Petersburg and Moscow from 6 to 8 July.

Ukraine’s use of drones and robots in live combat is directly shaping European military technology, as the European Defence Agency (EDA) launches its first joint trials of unmanned systems.

The exercise, held at the Montelibretti base near Rome, marks the launch of the Defence Innovation Operational Experimentation (OPEX) campaign — aimed at accelerating Europe’s battlefield readiness with robotic and aerial platforms.

“Ukrainian experts have helped us design scenarios for the use of the technology, and the EDA will create a blueprint to show armies how they can quickly integrate it,” André Denk, EDA’s chief executive, told Defense News.

Europe seeks to close the “valley of death” in military tech

The EDA’s goal is to address the long-standing gap between innovation and deployment — what officials call the “valley of death” where promising military technologies often stall before reaching the field.

“The war in Ukraine reshaped our understanding of defense innovation, compressing years of development into weeks,” said André Denk. “Accelerating innovation from the lab to the field is our ticket to operational relevance.”

Drones and robots simulate front-line logistics

The exercise brought together unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) — better known as drones — and unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), which are robotic land-based systems designed to operate without a human on board.

Over the three-week trial, UAVs were used to deliver supplies, which were then transferred to UGVs for the final stretch to simulated front-line positions — a logistics method already employed by Ukrainian forces in active combat.

The companies involved included:

• UAVs: Beyond Vision (Portugal), Altus LSA (Greece), Schiebel (Austria)
• UGVs: Alysis (Spain), Piap (Poland), Arx Robotics (Germany)

The robotic vehicles were put through their paces in rough terrain, including water-filled ditches, to evaluate how well they could perform under battlefield-like conditions.

NATO observers watch real-world scenarios

Military officials from Italy, Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, and Greece attended the trials, which ended on 3 July.

“We are missing a link between research and development and end users,” said an EDA official. “This exercise was a chance for militaries to see the technology in action and understand the possibilities for tactics and doctrine.”

What’s next: Nettuno trials and wider EU integration

Testing will continue at the Italian army’s Nettuno facility, where upcoming operational trials will explore how UAV and UGV systems can be integrated into standard military procedures across EU member states.

“We are now showing armies systems they don’t know about and increasing discussions and lessons for the first time,” the EDA official said.