USA Today, June 2025
A stunning attack in Russia shows we live in a world where a deadly battlefield technology looks a lot like something you might see flying around at the beach. The carefully choreographed attack dubbed Russia’s “Pearl Harbor” comes as Ukraine has seen incredible success weaponizing cheap drones — ones not all that different from those commonly used in the United States as aerial action cameras or for spectacular light shows.
“We may be at an inflection event,” said Mai’a Cross, a professor of international affairs and diplomacy at Northeastern University. “The nature of warfare has transformed.” The attack has been praised by supporters of Ukraine as an innovative, economical and surgical way to conduct warfare. It also highlights a longstanding worry that drones represent an emerging danger — and years of efforts to combat that danger.
