{"id":12686,"date":"2026-04-29T05:49:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T05:49:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/russia\/12686\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T05:49:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T05:49:27","slug":"ukraines-land-robots-are-revolutionising-the-shapeshifting-war-with-russia-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/russia\/12686\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine\u2019s land robots are revolutionising the shapeshifting war with Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"

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First came the infantry, next the missiles,<\/a> then the drones. <\/p>\n

Now, after more than four years of a bloody and grinding war in Ukraine<\/a>, remote-controlled ground robots are assuming command over the battlefield.<\/p>\n

Last Wednesday, Volodymyr Zelensky <\/a>claimed Ukraine\u2019s 3rd Separate Assault Brigade had regained territory<\/a> exclusively using a combination of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) and drones \u2013 a mission he says was a first in the war. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe occupiers surrendered, and the operation was carried out without infantry and without losses on our side,\u201d he went on, referring to an operation from the northeastern Kharkiv region last year, in which Ukrainian infantry occupied a position gained using the UGVs.<\/p>\n

\"VolodymyrVolodymyr Zelensky has spoken of Ukraine\u2019s growing UGV industry (X\/@ZelenskyyUa)<\/p>\n

This shapeshifting conflict has transformed modern conventional warfare, most notably through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVS \u2013 or drones) for reconnaissance and attack missions. But UGVs are the new future of warfare, Ukrainian commanders and engineers say \u2013 a future that has already arrived.<\/p>\n

Ukraine\u2019s 3rd Assault Brigade wants to replace around 30 per cent of its infantry with UGVs as it looks to cut down on costly troop losses on the eastern front lines, Mykola Zinkevych, callsign Makar, commander of the \u201cNC13\u201d Strike UGV Unit that carried out the Kharkiv operation, tells The Independent. <\/p>\n

Click here <\/a>to read an investigation by world affairs editor Sam Kiley on how Russia\u2019s drone warfare has been limited after access to Starlink was blocked. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe logic is simple: where the risk to a human is high, a robot should be used. Because the life of an infantryman is priceless, and robots don\u2019t bleed,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re working toward a model where UGVs take on the most dangerous tasks, while infantry becomes a highly specialised force focused on what UGVs cannot perform.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yaroslav Drobysh, callsign Zhulyk, is the operator and chief sergeant of the unit. He says growing use of UGVs has already significantly eased the burden for infantrymen, carrying out several logistical tasks and transporting large volumes of supplies and ammunition without losses. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a new phase of the war,\u201d Sgt Drobysh says. <\/p>\n

\"AA Tencore Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) TerMIT is driven through snow in the Kyiv region (Getty)<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving walked the path of an assault infantryman, I know first hand the true price of every metre of our land. That is why I deeply understand the value of decisions that reduce risk to human life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sgt Drobysh\u2019s unit says it is the world\u2019s first strike UGV unit, starting from scratch with no military doctrine for the use of the vehicles in modern combat. Ukraine is now a world leader in their production and use; last year, its UGV market grew by 488 per cent, according to a study by the KSE Institute, BRAVE1, and Defence Builder.<\/p>\n

The vehicles have already been transformative to logistics on the battlefield. While a modern infantryman can carry an average of 20kg of gear over distance, logistics UGVs can transport a cargo of 200 to 600kg to frontline positions. <\/p>\n

They deliver critical supplies, evacuate wounded troops, hold territorial positions, destroy enemy positions, carry out sabotage missions and lay mines.<\/p>\n

Cmdr Zinkevych says the unit has carried out more than 100 strike operations using UGVs in the past few months. \u201cDuring these missions, we\u2019ve destroyed enemy troops, shelters, command posts, and other high-value targets,\u201d he says. \u201cThis is daily, systematic combat work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SoldiersSoldiers demonstrate how the Tencore Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) TerMIT is used for evacuation procedures (Getty)<\/p>\n

Although he says the vehicles have altered the course of the war, Cmdr Zinkevych has concerns about a slowdown in the pace of their development. He calls for a boost in funding, warning that slowing development is \u201csomething we cannot allow\u201d.<\/p>\n

Among the most used robotic units is the TW12.7, produced by the Ukrainian company DevDroid. It is a vehicle with a Browning machine gun mounted on top, and has been used extensively on the battlefield by the unit. <\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Cmdr Zinkevych claimed a single TW12.7 held a position on the frontline for six weeks, moving to the forward position on the frontline to watch for any Russian movements and delivering suppressive fire, before withdrawing to a covered location in the evenings. <\/p>\n

Oleg Fedoryshyn, head of research and design at DevDroid, says the UGV has transformed how Ukrainian troops hold positions. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easier to control an area for 24 hours when you are sitting in a safe zone 50km from the UGV, and you can swap with your team and another guy does it,\u201d he tells The Independent. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe UGVs can be piloted from dozens of kilometres away (Getty)<\/p>\n

The average cost of a UGV for the Ukrainian military, as sold by Devdroid, is $30,000 (\u00a322,100). This rises to $50,000 if it comes equipped with a Browning machine gun, and the price increases significantly if it is sold to any military other than Ukraine\u2019s. <\/p>\n

Mr Fedoryshyn is coy about how many robots Devdroid has produced for Ukraine, but says the figure is growing rapidly. \u201cFrom year to year, it’s increasing and increasing a lot. It’s not enough at this moment. In this year, in the next year, I think it will increase a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

He is also wary of revealing details of a new UGV he says is currently being trialled by military units, which has not yet been publicly unveiled. <\/p>\n

DevDroid is in constant contact with troops on the ground about how the new robots can be improved to better meet their needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe try to produce UGVs that will work after one year. We just try to imagine how it changed, and how the front line changes, how the world is changing. And our product mustn’t be outdated in one year,\u201d he says. \u201cEvery day we talk with them about it, and they give us some improvements.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA Ukrainian serviceman tests an unmanned robotic ground vehicle armed with an Mk 19 grenade launcher (AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n

Around 10 or 15 per cent of the robots sent by Devdroid were lost in battle, he estimates. Many of these were repaired and returned to their brigades, so were lost only temporarily. <\/p>\n

Experts warn that the growing use of robots does come with its own risks. The physical detachment between the operator and the lethal weapon raises concerns over how force is used.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere we have an instrument that serves toward the application of force, operated from a distance, there is a risk that the threshold to use force becomes lowered … and civilian populations are potentially at risk of bearing the brunt of the use of force,\u201d explains Professor Elke Schwarz, an expert in military technologies at Queen Mary University. <\/p>\n

But Prof Schwarz notes that Kyiv is developing the UGV tactics \u201cout of necessity\u201d and in the context of an existential threat. <\/p>\n

It is a certain boost for Kyiv\u2019s self-reliance in the war, she adds: \u201cThese are often homegrown systems, meaning that there is less reliance on external provisions, and the companies developing these UGVs can later expect to export the systems to other states.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7281,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[6515,5625,321,6516,5050,1763,1498,1714,5,25,6517],"class_list":{"0":"post-12686","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-russia","8":"tag-army-soldier","9":"tag-color-image","10":"tag-conflict","11":"tag-evacuation","12":"tag-horizontal","13":"tag-kyiv-oblast","14":"tag-photography","15":"tag-protest","16":"tag-russia","17":"tag-ukraine","18":"tag-unmanned-ground-vehicle"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/russia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/russia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/russia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/russia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/russia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/russia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12686\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/russia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/russia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/russia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/russia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}