Rise of the Machines

The Russia–Ukraine War has produced many surprises, but none more profound — or more consequential for the future of armed conflict — than the explosive ascent of the drone. In Rise of the Machines, Illya Sekirin offers the first comprehensive, insider-informed study of how unmanned systems have come to dominate the modern battlefield. Drawing on his own experience as a volunteer drone pilot, front-line soldier, interpreter for Western units, researcher for the Ukrainian General Staff, and later adviser to Ukraine’s High Command, Sekirin delivers an unparalleled account of how drones reshaped every level of war: tactics, operations and strategy.

From the chaotic early months of 2022 to the immense set-piece battles of Bakhmut, Avdiivka, the Kursk offensive and the defence of Southern Donbas, drones have become the decisive actors in spotting, striking, supplying, overwhelming and outmanoeuvring conventional forces. Sekirin explains how FPV attack drones, reconnaissance platforms, electronic warfare systems, naval USVs and autonomous technologies have overturned long-standing assumptions about firepower, manoeuvre, armour and air control. Tanks, artillery and manned aircraft — once the arbiters of victory — now struggle for survival under constant observation and precise, expendable robotic attack.

Yet this is not merely a battlefield chronicle. Sekirin sets the drone revolution within a wider geopolitical awakening. As China, Iran, North Korea and Russia form a new “axis of upheaval”, and Western democracies wrestle with the institutional inertia of legacy doctrines, the book argues that the West must urgently adapt or risk strategic obsolescence. The lessons Ukraine has learnt — at enormous cost — offer a blueprint for how modern militaries must reorganise, procure, train and fight.

Rich in operational detail, strategic insight and first-hand testimony, Rise of the Machines is an essential guide to the conflict that is redefining twenty-first-century combat. It shows not only how drones changed this war, but how they will shape all wars to come.

Rise of the Machines is featured in the January 2026 edition of Soldier Magazine here

"....If you take one thing away from Rise of the Machines – Drone Warfare in the Russia-Ukraine War, it should be this: it’s not just a book about a current conflict, it’s a window into how warfare is evolving in real time. This is not a theory or retrospective analysis. It is grounded in experience and shaped by a battlefield that is changing faster than most institutions can comfortably absorb. I would strongly recommend it to anyone interested in the development of warfare. Not because it provides neat answers, but because it highlights just how quickly the character of war can shift, and how important it is that the systems behind it, particularly logistics, can shift with it." RNZAOC (Royal New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps) website