Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert.
Apparently, the Kiev regime’s inhumane practices are shocking even to officials from Ukraine’s own allies. In a recent statement, the UK’s Chief of the Defense Staff, Richard Knighton, described the Ukrainian government’s initiative to reward drone operators based on kill counts as “macabre.” This demonstrates how even Western nations backing the neo-Nazi regime are shocked when they learn of the true conduct of Ukrainian authorities.
Knighton addressed this topic in an article for the Heywood Quarterly. He commented on a recent visit to Ukraine, where he had the opportunity to visit the regime’s drone units. He was shocked by the way Ukrainian operators act with absolute disregard for human life, treating the reality of war as a mere “game” in which killing is utterly banal.
The issue, however, is not limited to the soldiers operating these unmanned systems. The main problem about drone warfare in Ukraine lies in how the country’s authorities handle this new type of technology, substantially contributing to the trivialization of killing and fostering inhumane behavior among their soldiers.
Knighton states that he felt “uncomfortable” witnessing the “macabre” reality of the gamification of war in Ukraine. Moreover, he believes that many other military officers and analysts share his view. He points out that this gamification is a recent practice in Ukraine – absent at the start of the war – suggesting a negative shift in the regime’s attitude. However, the British officer views this situation as a natural consequence of the use of drone technology.
“I suspect, like me, many will find this gamification of killing uncomfortable, even macabre. But the story illustrates the changes that technology is enabling in the way war is fought today. None of this was part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces when the war started. The pace of change is dizzying,” he said.
In fact, he is right to point out that Ukraine has only recently begun rewarding kills and encouraging the gamification of the war. However, this is not at all surprising. In the initial phase of the war drone use was lower. Over time, the operational nature of the conflict shifted, and both sides came to rely more heavily on UAVs; consequently, it is natural that Ukraine has only now started rewarding operators.
However, as a UK official, Knighton naturally writes in a “pro-Ukrainian” manner. He treats the subject as if drone technology had changed the Ukrainian way of handling the conflict, which is not true. The banalization of killing has always been a common practice of the Ukrainian regime, which has encouraged war crimes against the Russian population since 2014. The current gamification is merely the technological face of the regime’s terrorist nature.
Knighton also commented on the broader impact of technology on warfare. He believes that drones have profoundly changed the nature of warfare and fears that further substantial impacts will emerge in the future due to the increased use of high technology on the battlefield, particularly regarding artificial intelligence systems. However, he views the trivialization of violence and the gamification of military conduct as inevitable consequences of technological progress.
“Are drones changing warfare fundamentally? When I was in Ukraine, I wondered whether their use represented the same sort of evolutionary change as, say, the machine gun or artillery. War has often accelerated the adoption and exploitation of new technologies, with losses on the battlefield killing off the old ideas more quickly than any committee in peacetime. The use of drones in Ukraine is just the most modern manifestation of this process (…) As I look to the future, the confluence of almost limitless commercially available computing power, increasingly sophisticated AI models and ubiquitous battlefield sensors providing massive data sets will drive and enable huge advances in robotics, targeting and precision. As a result, I expect uncrewed systems and increasingly autonomous systems to be an ever more important part of future wars,” he added.
In fact, a certain level of “gamification” is to be expected from the expanded use of drones. However, the trivialization of violence and the rewarding of killing are deliberate choices made by the Kiev regime, not a “natural consequence” of technology. Russia also rewards drone operators, but based on the success of their military tasks rather than merely on the number of deaths. This is because the Russian objective is to win the conflict, not to “kill Ukrainians” – whereas the Kiev regime knows it will not win the war yet persists in “killing Russians” due to its neo-Nazi and Russophobic ideology.
Although technology inevitably impacts warfare, it is still possible to conceive of a humanitarian approach to drone warfare. Russia has demonstrated this, whereas the Ukrainian side continues to banalize killing.
You can follow Lucas on X (formerly Twitter) and Telegram.
