Zaluzhnyi: My early warnings about technological change in war drew criticism

The envoy argued that the end of World War II determined not only where and when the next war might begin, but also what its main forms and methods would be.

According to him, whether past political and social mistakes would be repeated influenced the first question, while the second depended on the development of science and technology, which would inevitably exploit those mistakes.

“In the summer of 2023, as military operations within Ukraine intensified and required to survive on the battlefield, the wheel of progress started turning after standing still for nearly 80 years,” Zaluzhnyi wrote.

“My initial thoughts on this in the autumn of 2023 sparked political objections within Ukraine itself and met with absolute incomprehension from representatives of the world's former leading armies.”

He added that in Ukraine today it has become politically and financially advantageous to present oneself as a representative of technology.

“Those who, just three years ago, formulated their grievances against me now insist that technology is the only right choice for them,” the former army commander said.

He noted that now weapons expos resemble scenes from science-fiction films and museums of past wars at the same time, “but back then everyone thought otherwise.”

“Apart from the progress that was gathering momentum and awaiting the emergence of a new empire to tame it. However, unfortunately, things turned out differently,” Zaluzhnyi wrote.

In the same column, he stressed that technological progress also became available to Ukraine’s enemies, and that “the front brought to life not industrial horrors, but technological ones.”

He also wrote: “It is correct to consider that 2026 is a time of war of technologies, and not only technologies. It is also a war of strategies and doctrines that are constantly evolving under the pressure of progress.”

Zaluzhnyi further explained in the column why, in his view, Ukraine is no longer in a simple “drone war” and offered his own explanation for why conscription has reached what he called a dead end.

Back in the fall of 2023, in an article for The Economist, Zaluzhnyi argued that Ukraine needed technological progress to succeed on the battlefield.

In February 2024, in a column for CNN, he wrote that Ukraine needed to build “an entirely new state system of technological rearmament” in order to counter Russian technologies and gain an advantage in battle.

At that time, he also named three key directions Ukraine should focus on: high-tech systems for the armed forces, a new philosophy of war, and expanded combat capabilities.