A view shows heavy damage to an apartment building hit by a Russian drone strike in Odessa, southern Ukraine, on July 24, 2025. Nina Liashonok/Reuters

A top-secret Russian unit based in Moscow has changed the landscape of drone warfare, turning what was an advantage for the Ukrainians into a vulnerability.

The unit is known as Rubicon and has expanded rapidly under Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov since his appointment in June last year. Belousov visited its headquarters in October 2024 and was shown a range of drones being developed, according to video published by official Russian media .

The advent of Rubicon – full name the Rubicon Center for Advanced Unmanned Technologies – is a prime example of how the Russian military has learnt to shrug off its rigid way of warfare d

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