well the article writes AS IF the whole intention was to:

"get data for drone warfare" ...in 2021 (before the russian invasion...)

but did we even EXPECT drone warfare to influence the war THIS MUCH back then?

well not me -- I actually thought russia would beat the crap out of ukraine within a month (even after the failed spetsnaz attack on zelensky)

the article's assumptions only makes sense IF some people had time machines, or if CIA has some know-everything future prophet

(not to mention: drones need TOP TO BOTTOM view, not bottom-to-top view)

anyway, my verdict: sensational yellow journal article, nothing more/less