Editor’s Note: This article was published by the twice-weekly newsletter “The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak” on Feb. 8, 2025, and has been re-published by the Kyiv Independent with permission. To subscribe to The Counteroffensive, click here. Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine — In the early hours of December 2024, as the sun began to rise, the sound of drones filled the air. But this wasn’t just any drone operation. This was the first successful all-drone assault on Russian positions — a groundbreaking e