After conquering swaths of territory across Europe, both Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler met defeat in the vast expanse of Russia. But last weekend, the seemingly insurmountable foe took an embarrassing blow from a nation seen as a military lightweight: Ukraine. Without the technological advances of the last five years, this could not have happened.

Under the code name “Spiderweb,” Ukraine executed a major drone strike that targeted several air bases deep in Russian territory. “It involved smuggling 117 first-person view drones into Russia, hidden in wooden mobile cabins on trucks with remotely operated roofs,” as our Morning Brief highlighted. “The drones were launched near the airfields, striking strategic aircraft designed to carry Russian nuclear bombs, all the way in Siberia and the Arctic.”

Hitler’s Luftwaffe could only reach Moscow and caused limited damage there; the Belaya Air Base in Irkutsk Oblast—one of the bases struck by Ukrainian drones—lies some 2,500 miles beyond Moscow. But then again, Hitler didn’t have drones powered by artificial intelligence. The Kyiv Post wrote:

In July, milblogger “Clash Report” reported that Ukraine’s intelligence services had been training artificial intelligence (AI) systems that would enable its drones to recognize enemy equipment, including Soviet-era bombers, using images obtained from military museums. Those who asked “so what?” at the time got their answer on Sunday when the sbu’s “Operation Pavutyna (Spiderweb)” decimated a large number of Moscow’s strategic fleet of aircraft deep inside Russian territory. …

As videos captured during Sunday’s attacks attest, the drones didn’t simply crash into their targets but went for the areas where maximum damage was most likely to be caused—weapons pylons carrying cruise missiles and over wing fuel tanks.

One should never underestimate the latest military innovations.

Ukraine claims it damaged or destroyed 41 aircraft and degraded 34 percent of Russia’s strategic cruise missile carriers, causing $7 billion in damages. But the deeper implications are far more unsettling: Military innovation has shifted the balance of power in alarming and unpredictable ways.

The Lab for Future Wars

In 2024, Time wrote:

War has always driven innovation, from the crossbow to the Internet, and in the modern era private industry has made key contributions to breakthroughs like the atom bomb. But the collaboration between foreign tech companies and the Ukrainian armed forces, who say they have a software engineer deployed with each battalion, is driving a new kind of experimentation in military AI. The result is an acceleration of “the most significant fundamental change in the character of war ever recorded in history,” Gen. Mark Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters in Washington last year.

“We had better pay attention to what might be ‘the most significant fundamental change in the character of war ever recorded in history’!” Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote in “AI and the End of ‘Mutually Assured Destruction’.” “Technology advances are often hyped up, but I believe there are reasons that may not be the case here.”

He cited Palantir ceo Alex Karp, who stated AI could “allow David to beat a modern-day Goliath.”

To some extent, that’s what we witnessed on Sunday. The comparatively weaker Ukraine delivered a decisive strike against Russia’s military powerhouse. Drones crippled giant warplanes. While the blow may not prove fatal like David’s sling against Goliath, it proves the potential of AI and drones.

“But ultimately, this is not about Ukraine winning against Russia,” Mr. Flurry wrote. “Ukraine has become a ‘lab’ to prepare for much larger wars!”

Russia will continue its horrifying warfare no matter the setbacks it suffers. A more savvy and fearsome Russian military empire will rise, as depicted in Bible prophecy (request a free copy of Russia and China in Prophecy). But the power with the biggest potential to learn these lessons is little noticed: Germany.

Learning From Drone Warfare

After the German AI start-up Helsing announced the delivery of thousands of strike drones for Ukraine at the end of 2024, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told Bild, “We are in close dialogue with our Ukrainian partners and will be able to draw conclusions for the Bundeswehr on how this type of drone can be used effectively. This will also help us to develop our own drone capabilities.”

Germany not only delivers drones to Ukraine, it is invested in its military industry. As Pistorius explained to the press on April 11: “We are strengthening Ukraine in many different ways. One way is to support it in building up its own capabilities. The support we provide to Ukraine is not a one-way road; it is a win-win situation. The insights we gain will benefit both us and Ukraine. We will learn from it too.”

Citing an anonymous European official, the Washington Post wrote on April 19: “The strategy also allows nato countries to use Ukraine as a testing ground for developing weapons, such as drones, in which they don’t have as much experience, the official said.”

When Ukraine was testing AI systems that enabled drones to recognize enemy equipment, few payed attention. But when it pulled the trigger, the whole world took note. How much more could Germany do with this innovation? Winston Churchill once warned, “Beware! Germany is a country fertile in military surprises.”

Germany is preparing for such surprises; its own defense minister says as much. Bible prophecy reveals it will shock the world. Mr. Flurry wrote in “The Unknown Future of Artificial Intelligence”:

Future wars most certainly will include nuclear bombs and biological weapons. These deadly weapons can be mounted on aircraft and drones and sent all over the world. Imagine what they could do! covid-19 was a mild biological weapon compared to something they might send in one of those drones. Some analysts are warning that artificial intelligence can be used to develop bioweapons that target only specific ethnicities. We know only a fraction of the weaponry being developed in secret. …

A prophecy in Revelation 9 describes the military equipment used in this warfare as swarms of locusts. Could these locusts be swarms of various aircraft coordinating their flight patterns through AI?

Imagine Ukraine’s recent drone attacks times a thousand. Imagine thousands of drones mounted with nuclear weapons to erase military bases and biological weapons capable of erasing entire cities. Such an attack coupled with cyberattacks would be devastating. Mr. Flurry wrote:

Ezekiel 7:14 paints an alarming scenario: “They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready; but none goeth to the battle: for my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.” This is a prophecy about modern-day “Israel,” which is the prophetic term for the United States and Britain (request a free copy of Herbert W. Armstrong’s book The United States and Britain in Prophecy). These nations are going to be attacked, and they will call for war, but nobody will go to the battle! They rely on advanced technology, but apparently the enemy will hack and knock out their technology! …

America will be blindsided by German military technology. The Germans are moving fast, and in some ways they are already ahead of America. What we see in the news is only a fraction of what is going on behind the scenes, I am sure.

As our Morning Brief noted: “We are witnessing some of the weapons of World War iii in action.” One can only wonder what secret weapons and strategies Germany is preparing to unleash an assault far more devastating than Ukraine’s recent attack on Russia.

The recent drone attack is a wake-up call for the world’s mightiest military forces. But more than that, it is a wake-up call for us to heed the Bible’s warning. To learn more, read Mr. Flurry’s article “AI and the End of ‘Mutually Assured Destruction’.”