Ukraine is increasingly using swarms of decoy drones and artificial intelligence (AI) to support long-range strikes inside Russian territory, according to a CNN report. The report, published Thursday, cited the commander of the Deep Strike unit within Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence (HUR), identified only by the call sign “Vector.”JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Footage showed Ukrainian personnel preparing various unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for launch. While some drones were equipped with warheads, others were launched without payloads and used as decoys. “Some are empty, some with a payload. The payload is small, but it is enough to destroy air-defense systems,” Vector told CNN. The report also described a jet-powered drone that appears as a missile on radar, complicating interception efforts. According to Vector, Ukraine’s long-range program relies on a decentralized structure, making it harder for Russia to disrupt operations. “We don’t have any common centers and we use dozens of places. Also, the software gives us a chance to work with thousands of UAVs,” he said. Following this, CNN reported that Ukraine is expanding its use of drones to wear down Russian defenses and create openings for follow-on attacks. Around 200 drones were reportedly prepared for launch from multiple locations on the night journalists visited the unit. Additional reporting by RBC-Ukraine suggested that Ukraine may be using an AI system, likely linked to Palantir’s PRISMA platform, to support these military operations.
Ukraine Uses AI, Decoy Swarms to Exploit Gaps in Russian Defenses
Ukraine is using AI-assisted systems and decoy drone swarms to identify and exploit weaknesses in Russian air defenses.
Ukraine's Deep Strike unit (HUR) uses AI—likely Palantir's PRISMA—to route 200+ UAVs nightly through gaps in Russian air defenses, mixing armed and decoy drones with no central command node. Decentralized, AI-optimized swarm coordination at this scale is operationally validated—a direct signal for autonomous systems investment and defense-tech stack decisions.














