- July 15, 2026
- 8:41 pm
- Ukraine
In certain directions of the Russian-Ukrainian front, the territory where almost any movement is detected and attacked by drones has expanded to 40–50 kilometers. Tanks are hidden under nets, the wounded cannot always be evacuated for several days, and large offensive groups can be spotted even before reaching their starting positions.
The German newspaper Die Zeit on July 12, 2026 published a large article titled “Der Tod von oben” — “Death from Above.” Its authors Kai Biermann, Hauke Friederichs, and Olivia Kortas described how drones have changed the war in Ukraine and created a huge strip of almost continuous surveillance along the front line.
According to Die Zeit, in some areas, the depth of this dangerous territory already reaches 40 kilometers and continues to grow. The publication also provides an estimate: about ten drones per square kilometer may be in the air simultaneously.
This does not mean that the entire territory 40 kilometers from the line of contact is completely deserted. There remain positions, observation posts, small infantry groups, and supply routes. However, any movement of a car, armored vehicle, motorcycle, or group of servicemen can be detected by a reconnaissance drone, after which an FPV drone, heavy bomber, or artillery is directed at the target.
How the “death zone” grew from 10 to 50 kilometers
The expansion of the zone occurred gradually and directly depended on the range of drones, the appearance of relays, the development of fiber optic systems, and the increase in the number of devices at the front.
March 3, 2025: Ukraine launches the “Drone Line”
March 3, 2025 The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine officially announced the launch of the “Drone Line” project. The initiative was to unite the most effective drone system units and create a permanent strip of destruction in front of Ukrainian positions.
An additional 4.6 billion hryvnias was allocated for the development of the project. The funds were intended for the purchase of drones, vehicles, electronic warfare equipment, and mobile group equipment.
Initially, it was about a controlled zone with a depth of approximately 10–15 kilometers, where Russian troops could not advance without significant losses.
July 17, 2025: Reuters describes the first outlines of the new war
In a Reuters article from July 17, 2025, the dangerous strip was estimated at about 10 kilometers on each side of the line of contact.
Even then, Ukrainian military personnel reported that large equipment was quickly detected by drones. Therefore, the Russian army began to use small groups of two to six people, motorcycles, ATVs, and light vehicles more often.
The mass concentration of armored vehicles necessary for a classic breakthrough of the front was becoming increasingly dangerous: a column could be detected even before it reached the line of attack.
In August 2025, Volodymyr Zelensky estimated the depth of such a zone at approximately 10–20 kilometers from the front line. However, in the following months, the range of drones continued to increase.
February 2, 2026: ten drones per square kilometer
The estimate of ten drones per square kilometer appeared not only in Die Zeit.
February 2, 2026 Estonian Defense Forces staff officer Major Taavi Liyas stated in an interview with ERR that in some saturated areas of the front, about ten drones per square kilometer could be in the air.
Most of them are not strike drones but reconnaissance devices. They stay in the air longer, monitor roads, plantings, and destroyed settlements, and after detecting movement, call in FPV drones or bomber drones.
Liyas also reported that artillery had to be moved further from the front line. If earlier guns could be placed four to six kilometers from the front, now they are kept about 10–12 kilometers away, almost at the limit of effective range.
According to him, it is practically impossible to secretly assemble a large armored group unless reconnaissance drones, communication, and enemy targeting means are suppressed in advance.
It is important to understand that ten drones per square kilometer is not an official average value for the entire front line. This is an estimate of drone density in the most active directions.
Tanks have not disappeared, but the traditional armored warfare has ended
Reuters on February 24, 2026, on the fourth anniversary of the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, published a report from the Kharkiv region.
Ukrainian tank platoon commander Valentin Bogdanov said that his captured Russian T-72 remains camouflaged most of the time. In fact, the tank is used as a stationary artillery piece, as going out into open terrain almost inevitably attracts FPV drones.
This does not mean the complete disappearance of tanks. Armored vehicles continue to be used in urban areas, in difficult weather, and during certain mechanized operations. However, their role has sharply decreased, and massive armored attacks have largely been replaced by the actions of small infantry groups.
According to Reuters, along the front line stretching about 1200 kilometers, thousands of reconnaissance and strike drones were present daily. The share of losses related to drones increased from less than 10% in 2022 to a figure that in certain directions in 2025 could reach 80%.
NAnews — Israel News notes: statements about the complete “disappearance of armored vehicles” are exaggerated. It is more accurate to say that drones have deprived tanks of their former freedom of movement and forced both sides to completely restructure the use of heavy machines.
Evacuation takes several days instead of an hour
Drone warfare has changed not only offensives but also medical assistance.
In the same Reuters report from February 24, 2026, the head of one of the military hospitals in the Kharkiv region, Vyacheslav Kurny, reported that the average evacuation time for the wounded in some areas exceeded three days.
Military medicine traditionally relied on the “golden hour” principle: it was believed that a seriously wounded person should be delivered to doctors within about 60 minutes. In the modern zone of destruction, a vehicle or armored vehicle sent for the wounded can itself become a target.
Therefore, ground robots and heavy cargo drones are increasingly used for evacuation, delivery of water, food, and ammunition. Only in January 2026, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, ground unmanned complexes completed more than 7000 missions.
Spring and summer 2026: the zone continues to expand
April 9, 2026 The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported that more than 1000 crews are participating in the “Drone Line” project.
The officially declared depth of constant destruction was 10–15 kilometers. According to the department, the project’s units hit every fourth recorded target on the front. During the winter period, they were credited with hitting more than 30,000 Russian servicemen, and in March alone — more than 10,500.
These are official Ukrainian military data, so it is impossible to independently verify each claimed target. However, they show the scale of the transition from individual operator groups to a centralized system of drone warfare.
May 23, 2026 Reuters wrote that the standard zone of increased danger reached about 15 kilometers on both sides of the front, that is, about 30 kilometers in total width.
Ukrainian military personnel reported that heavy Vampire drones are used not only for attacks but also for delivering water, food, and medicine to areas where it is too dangerous to send people or vehicles.
June 12, 2026 Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine David Aloyan, speaking at a drone summit in Latvia, reported that in certain directions, the depth of the destruction zone reaches 50 kilometers.
According to him, where the density of reconnaissance and strike drones is especially high, a vehicle can be detected and destroyed within minutes.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Alexander Mishchenko gave a more cautious estimate — from 20 to 40 kilometers. He emphasized that drones make large offensive operations significantly more difficult, as it is impossible to gather troops unnoticed in one area.
That is why the figure of 40 kilometers provided by Die Zeit on July 12, 2026 looks realistic. But it applies to certain directions and cannot automatically be transferred to the entire front.
Why advancement is measured in tens of meters per day
The American Center for Strategic and International Studies — CSIS — in a report from July 1, 2026 linked the slowdown in hostilities to minefields, fortifications, artillery, and the saturation of the front with drones.
According to CSIS, in the first half of 2026, the average speed of Russian advancement was:
- about 50 meters per day near Kostiantynivka;
- about 70 meters per day in the Pokrovske direction;
- about 90 meters per day in the direction of Sloviansk.
For comparison: during the maneuver phase of the war in 2022, individual groups could advance 3000–7000 meters per day.
Analysts note that both sides now cannot, without enormous risk, gather enough infantry and armored vehicles within a more than 20-kilometer zone for a rapid operational breakthrough. Instead, the Russian army tries to infiltrate with small groups that occupy individual plantings, buildings, or positions.
NAnews — Israel News emphasizes: drones have not made the war less bloody. They have made it more fragmented. Instead of rapid offensives, thousands of small skirmishes, attacks, and infiltration attempts occur, each of which can cost human lives.
The next stage — drones that do not need a connection with the operator
Artificial intelligence is already used at the front, so calling it exclusively the “next stage” is not entirely correct.
Back on March 25, 2024 Reuters reported that Ukraine and Russia are developing drones with computer vision. Such a device can recognize a target, capture its image, and continue the attack without constant connection with the operator.
A regular FPV drone can be stopped by jamming the radio channel. But if the drone has already captured the image of a vehicle, tank, or other target, the onboard system can independently adjust the flight on the final segment.
November 29, 2025 Reuters described a Ukrainian unit’s strike on a presumed Russian tank at a distance of about 20 kilometers.
After the operator indicated the target, the software helped the drone keep it in the frame. Even after losing connection, the device could continue the flight autonomously.
The Ukrainian side states that the final decision to attack should be made by a human. AI is used for recognition, tracking, and targeting, not for independently choosing people to be destroyed.
By the end of November 2025 Ukraine deployed dozens of such systems, with individual solutions already installed on thousands of drones. Developers admitted that the effectiveness of computer vision depends on weather, lighting, camouflage, and image quality.
What the appearance of a 40-kilometer zone means
The “death zone” is not a continuous desert where no one can be.
Military personnel continue to serve on its territory, observation posts operate, rotations are conducted, and cargo is delivered. But the risk sharply increases as one approaches the line of contact.
The main change is that the front has ceased to be a narrow strip of trenches. It has turned into a deep territory of constant surveillance, which can begin tens of kilometers from the immediate site of battles.
Drones have forced headquarters, warehouses, artillery, and command posts to move back. They have made the evacuation of the wounded more difficult, limited the use of tanks, and made the unnoticed preparation of a classic large offensive almost impossible.
But technological advantage does not remain constant. Each new means of protection leads to the emergence of a new method of attack: electronic warfare led to the spread of fiber optic drones, anti-drone nets to repeated attacks along the same route, and the loss of radio communication accelerated the development of autonomous targeting.
Therefore, the publication Die Zeit from July 12, 2026 describes not a completed technological revolution, but another stage of it. The boundary of the “death zone” continues to move away from the front line, and the war is increasingly turning into a confrontation of reconnaissance systems, algorithms, and mass-produced unmanned machines.