Forged from the remnants of the Soviet Spetsnaz, Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces have become a vital pillar of the country’s current defense, playing their role in some of the war’s most decisive engagements – from Kyiv to Donbas, and to Kursk Oblast in Russia. Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, they have had to learn and adapt, as the rise of the war of drones transformed what was understood to be achievable by special forces, for better or for worse.
