Starcast Join the waitlist
The Lawfare Podcast

The Lawfare Podcast

Lawfare Daily: Ukraine’s Asymmetric Blueprint in the Black Sea

Dec 16, 2025 · 39m

Coming soon to iPhone. Already have it? “Listen in Starcast” takes you straight there.

On this episode

About this episode

At the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia held clear naval superiority in the Black Sea. Over the course of the war, Ukraine has developed an asymmetric maritime strategy using unmanned surface vehicles (USVs), achieving strategic effects against a superior naval force. Ukraine has largely shifted from importing complete drone systems to assembling them domestically using foreign components, with China remaining a key supplier of many critical parts. What is more, Ukraine is now preparing to export its drones internationally. In this episode, Katsiaryna Shmatsina, Eurasia Fellow at Lawfare , sits down with Cat Buchatskiy, the Director of Analytics at the Snake Island…