The war in Ukraine has reached its 1541st day in May 2026.

This means that this war is now longer than all the wars waged without interruption by a country on its own territory in Europe. 

The UK fought for 2,191 days during World War II, but the fighting did not take place continuously on its territory. 

There were, of course, the Thirty Years’ War and the Hundred Years’ War, as well as the Spanish Reconquista, which lasted nearly 700 years. However, all these wars were marked by battles spaced out by long periods of calm during which the combatants could rest.  In Ukraine, for more than four years, a front line stretching over 1,000 km has seen daily attacks and counterattacks in which soldiers are killed. This fact is indisputable and constitutes a first for Europe. We can, of course, draw comparisons with past wars, but if we want to be honest from a military and tactical point of view, we must recognize that this represents an entirely new and important development — a transformation in the “art of modern warfare”.  No military or political expert predicted in 2022 that two European peoples would accept waging a war lasting more than four years on their border, while being bombed deep inside their own territory.

 I myself bet on the hypothesis of a “public opinion uprising” after two and a half years of fighting. Reality has proven me wrong. 

The Russian and Ukrainian peoples are therefore accepting a war that has lasted more than four years while continuing to live an almost normal life despite daily aerial bombardments.  The subject is vast and deeply worrying.

The question we can ask ourselves is both simple and very important: Can we envisage a drone war in all Europe?

A war in which drones would strike all European countries and where the conflict would be waged by only 2% of the population, with the help of private companies producing drones and anti-drone systems? 

Are we going to experience a new type of war, with drone strikes on Moscow, Kiev, Berlin, Paris, etc., and where local authorities will sign contracts with Chinese and American commercial companies to protect themselves from long-range missiles and drones?  Unfortunately, the answer must take into account the worst-case scenarios, given that European public opinion does not seem to oppose a protracted war de facto, as long as the civilians’ quality of life remains acceptable