Wars of the future are not about nuclear strikes. The world is on the verge of a new logic of confrontation, says Andrii Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation.
Ukraine has already redefined modern warfare. On 1 June, Ukraine’s Security Service carried out a special operation that struck 41 aircraft, part of Russia’s nuclear triad. The mission has become a symbol of a new era of asymmetric approach, where innovative drone systems and high-tech solutions allow a non-nuclear nation to effectively challenge a nuclear power state.
Outdated politicians keep talking about nuclear weapons, and the Kremlin tries to intimidate with its intercontinental ballistic Oreshnik, but future wars will not be won with missiles.
According to him, “the future lies not in nuclear deterrence, but in the doctrine of AI deterrence.” And already now, “Ukraine must adapt the logic of the nuclear age to the age of AI.”
“Wars of the future are not an exchange of nuclear strikes, as old politicians keep saying. They are attacks on systems that will carry out and make the decisions of the future,” Kovalenko emphasizes.
These include AI centers, generative models, LLMs that will analyze political scenarios, and AI systems that manage energy and vital city infrastructure.
“And if one state deliberately disables another’s AI systems, the risk of losing control increases manifold,” the expert warned.
To avoid catastrophe, Ukraine must initiate:
- classification of critical AI systems as strategic security assets,
- development of “secure decision-making” protocols under hybrid destabilization,
- creation of an international platform for rules of conduct in the sphere of military AI.
“We are on the verge of a new logic of confrontation, competition, and war. This concerns the whole world,” Kovalenko concludes.
Earlier, reports emerged that Ukraine was building a new class of weapons — drone-powered cruise missiles that are small, cheap, and deadly.
These weapons use mini jet engines, aviation-model components, and advanced guidance systems, yet weigh a fraction of traditional cruise missiles and cost exponentially less.