Simon Shuster is a seasoned journalist who has extensively covered Russia and Ukraine for over 15 years, primarily as a correspondent for TIME Magazine. Born in Moscow, he moved to the U.S. with his family as Soviet Union refugees at age six. After graduating from Stanford University in 2005, Simon returned to Moscow, reporting for The Moscow Times, Reuters, the Associated Press, among others. He covered Russia’s political landscape, including profiles of Vladimir Putin and interviews with high-ranking Russian officials, as well as profiling Ukraine’s last three presidents. Having spent years documenting the Ukraine war from both fronts, Simon was banned by Russian authorities post-Crimea’s annexation, branding him a security threat.
Simon penned the 2024 book, “The Showman: Inside the Invasion That Shook the World and Made a Leader of Volodymyr Zelensky,” and authored the TIME article, “How Ukraine Gamified Drone Warfare.” He’s writing another book on warfare’s future, focusing on technological and strategic evolution driven by the Ukraine conflict. Simon joined a podcast with Kevin Ball to explore drone warfare, AI-targeting, drone combat’s gamification, the rapid innovation cycle, emerging ethical challenges in war, drone proliferation, and global power dynamics.
Kevin Ball (KBall), the vice president of engineering at Mento, is also an independent coach for engineers and founding member of a San Diego JavaScript meetup and AI discussion group.
Read the podcast episode’s transcript [here](http://softwareengineeringdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/SED1880-Ukraine-Drones.txt).
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