As the Russia-Ukraine war continues to rage on for over three years, the war-torn eastern European nation has introduced a new way to ‘gamify’ the conflict, gifting soldiers points for any new feat in the long-stretched war.
As the Russia-Ukraine war continues to rage on for over three years, both Kyiv and Moscow have brought innovative incentives for the soldiers to keep on going. One such move is to ‘gamify’ the conflict, gifting soldiers points for any new feat in the long-stretched war.
According to a report by The New York Times, the Ukrainian government in 2024 set up a competition where regiments are being rewarded with points for successful attacks on Russian soldiers. As per the game rules, a wounded Russian soldier would garner them 8 points; if the Ukrainian troops killed an enemy, they would receive 12 points and capturing a Russian soldier alive with the help of a drone is the jackpot: 120 points.
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“It’s a brutal game — human lives turned into points,” said Stun, 33, a drone commander for the Ukrainian unmanned systems regiment known as Achilles, told The New York Times. In 2024, a beta version of the game was introduced to motivate the soldiers amid the war.
Teams compete for points to acquire Ukrainian-made gear, including basic surveillance drones and larger drones carrying powerful explosives, through an internal Amazon-style weapons store called Brave1 Market. The store first went online back in April this year and eventually expanded its operation by August.
A game to ’energise’ the troops
As per the rules, the more points a unit gets, the better stuff it can buy, ensuring that resources are directed to the teams that best use them. As per the report, the drone team submit videos of their successful strikes to a central office in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, where experts review them to decide who gets points based on time stamps and verified destruction, said Mykhailo Fedorov, the minister of digital transformation, who helped devise the program.
Officials behind the competition argued that the initiative keeps troops energised after three and a half years of war, with drone operators facing constant stress from witnessing violence on live video feeds. “This helps us stop the enemy,” said Fedorov, the digital minister. “If this gives additional motivation to our military,” he added, “we are happy to support it.”’
When asked by the NYT if he thought that Ukraine’s drone game might be dehumanising, Federov shrugged. “What is inhumane is starting a full-scale war in the 21st century,” he said. Meanwhile, Russia has their own version of the game as well.
In the battlefield competition, the Kremlin pays $2,400 for destroying a helicopter or $12,000 for capturing a Leopard tank, the NYT reported. In the Ukrainian game, more than 400 drone teams compete. Some infantry units that did not have full-fledged drone units have created them to be able to use the point system and earn equipment, soldiers said.
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The American news outlet has learned that the contest awards points for hitting both Russian soldiers and their equipment. Demolishing a Russian multiple-launch rocket system can earn up to 70 points. Destroying a tank is worth 40 points; damaging one yields 20.
“These days, spotting enemy vehicles is extremely rare,” a drone pilot working with Stun, who goes by the call sign Red and claims 45 confirmed kills, told NYT. “And if one does show up, like coming out of a forest, there’s basically a line of drones waiting to strike it.”
Change in point structure
Interestingly, the Ukrainian government has adjusted the point values to respond to Russia’s changing tactics. For example, as attack drones with ever-growing ranges widen and blur the front lines, the Russian Army often tries to gain ground by sending one, two or three infantrymen forward at a time.
These troops often try to evade Ukrainian drones by wearing anti-thermal coats or using greenery as cover. Those who succeed in taking them out have become a major priority. Back when the competition was introduced, the death of a Russian soldier earned only two points. In October 2024, that increased to six, which was doubled in May.
Interestingly, there is an online leaderboard that tracks the top 10 drone teams every month, although point totals are not made public. In first place in September was the Birds of the Magyar, followed by the so-called Alpha Group of Ukraine’s leading internal security agency.
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Meanwhile, the Achilles regiment was ranked sixth. The game appeared to fulfil its purpose. According to the NYT, both commanders and soldiers say they are already motivated to destroy Russian equipment and kill Russian soldiers. “We’re focused on destroying the enemy, on real objectives, on the mission,” Stun, the drone commander, told the American news outlet. “We go where we’re needed — not chasing after points.”
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