An official said that drones are "just more effective and cost less"
Ukraine's battlefield is increasingly being dominated by small explosive drones, and these devices are pushing once-glorified military roles like snipers out of the spotlight.
Among those witnessing the shift firsthand is Ukrainian special forces sniper Vyacheslav Kovalskiy, who claimed a world-record shot in late 2023 after reportedly hitting a Russian officer from nearly 2.5 miles away. Once celebrated on the front lines, Kovalskiy now spends most of his time assisting drone operators instead of carrying out sniper missions himself.
“Drones are just more effective and cost less,” Kovalskiy, who works with a military counterintelligence unit of Ukraine's Security Service (SBU), told The Wall Street Journal.
“I used to be the sniper, and everyone was dancing around me. Now the drone pilot, everyone dances around him, including me,” he added.
