Ten-man Ukrainian drone unit wiped out entire British brigade in war games... now expert warns NATO is 'a decade behind Russia on the battlefield'

By SOPHIA STANFORD, NEWS REPORTER Published: 10:40, 5 August 2026 | Updated: 10:42, 5 August 2026 A top military official has claimed that Nato is more than a decade behind Russia's military capabilities, months after a British brigade was wiped out by a Ukrainian unit in war games. Last year, the UK took part in a war simulation in Estonia involving more than 16,000 troops from 12 Nato countries but were 'destroyed' by Ukrainian troops in a 'horrible' defeat. The embarrassing loss came only months before Ukraine’s former commander-in-chief warned that it will take more than a decade for Nato to catch up to half of Russia’s military capabilities.  Valerii Zaluzhny, considered to be one of the most trusted public figures in Ukraine, has said Nato was still behaving as if future conflicts would be similar to the Second World War. Kyiv's ambassador to Britain reportedly said: 'Most likely, Nato will remain in the same form as it is, and will spend 12 years, like Ukraine, transitioning to standards that need to be achieved in order to reach at least half of the level of the Russian Federation.' The former general added that Ukrainian forces were superior to armies in Nato, who were still working to 'doctrines' set up in the 1940s, according to The Times. However, Mr Zaluzhny conceded that Ukrainian armed forces required air defence systems as well as other technology that Nato members possess.  Mr Zaluzhny's comments at a meeting of Ukrainian ambassadors are the latest in a string of accusations against Nato that they are not prepared enough for a war with Russia, with countries like the UK failing to meet defence spending needs. A Challenger 2  (pictured) main battle tank is seen here deployed in a war simulation in Estonia involving more than 16,000 troops from 12 Nato countries A British soldier (pictured) from 1 Mercian is seen here riding a quad bike during the military exercise in Estonia Valerii Zaluzhny, Ukraine ’s former commander-in-chief, warned that it will take more than a decade for Nato to catch up to half of Russia’s military capabilities The latest example of their supposed inability was highlighted by the military exercise Hedgehog 2025 held by Estonia, where Britain were defeated in a reproduction of a battlefield 'contested and congested' with various drones.  To counter the Nato forces, the Ukrainian team utilised Delta – a battlefield-management system that allowed their troops to gather intelligence in real-time and use artificial intelligence to co-ordinate strikes, identify targets and analyse data. In one scenario, a team of ten Ukrainians acting as the enemy counter-attacked Nato, carrying out 30 mock 'strikes' over the course of half a day and 'destroying' 17 armoured vehicles. One participant, who played the enemy, said the battle group was 'just walking around, not using any kind of disguise, parking tents and armoured vehicles'. The simulation underscored the importance of drones as the defining weapon of the Ukraine war, with analysts estimating the drones are responsible for approximately 70 per cent of casualties. As a result, European allies reportedly started producing drones and began to instruct their forces in unmanned warfare. But last month, a defence plan drawn up by General Sir Richard Barrons and Lord Robertson was rejected by the treasury for being unaffordable – a move that was branded as 'profoundly dangerous'. The authors told a parliamentary committee that the UK is comfortably in range of Russian ballistic missiles and how its defences are near non-existent.   General Sir Richard and Lord Robertson previously wrote the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) which was published last year and set out the requirements for Britain to thwart Kremlin aggression. The SDR was supposed to be followed urgently by the government’s Defence Investment Plan (DIP) but instead ministers wasted a year arguing what cuts to make. A plan for an ‘Iron Dome’ to protect Britain’s major cities from Russian aerial attacks was costed at a basic £80billion – yet Labour offered just £1billion as part of the DIP. Sir Richard told the Defence Committee: ‘The world is on fire now. The UK does not own the clock on when we need to be ready by. It is set by Russia and likely on the back of an outcome in Ukraine. Which is why people talk credibly about 2030 or sooner.' Recent satellite images have additionally exposed the expansion of dozens of military bases along Russia's borders with Nato countries, meanwhile, earlier this week, Moscow staged major war games with nuclear-capable missiles in the Barents Sea.