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Author
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Leo Greenberg

Leo Greenberg is a Kyiv-based analyst and writer focused on Eastern European politics, defense strategy, and military technology. He has worked for Warsaw's Stefan Batory Foundation and the U.S. House of Representatives, and holds a BA in History and Philosophy from Yale University.

Articles

soldier holds a drone controller near a GARA UAV in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, on Oct. 16, 2026.

Export hurdles and visa waits for Ukrainian companies force Pentagon to slow its drone contest

by Leo Greenberg
One morning in June, the head of export at Ukrainian drone company Stellarion found himself unexpectedly in need of a U-Haul outside the Detroit Metro Airport in Michigan. Stellarion was set to test its drones in front of American soldiers at a competition organized by the Pentagon at Camp Grayling, a military base three hours away. But while many of its 48 invited competitors were American companies that had had weeks to modify, prepare, and fit warheads onto their drones, Stellarion was facin