LVIV, UKRAINE — Social media is flush with footage of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers being killed by drones. Users around the world watch in first-person as a machine enters a building and detonates itself next to a man cowering in a corner. An aerial camera records a soldier trying to fight off another drone with a stick. Some throw their rifles at the machine. Others simply stand in place and allow the drone to kill them.

Some of these videos are posted as war propaganda. Some are shared on military forums or Telegram channels for armchair analysts to dissect and discuss. Perhaps most horrifically, many are posted by clickfarm accounts to sites such as X for the simple purpose of attracting eyeballs.