The killer robots are changing the battlefields

Ukraine is using unmanned ground vehicles armed with bombs, guns or rockets to carry out attacks and keep its soldiers out of harm’s way

The robots charged into battle through a valley in eastern Ukraine, driving over grass towards a Russian position. Essentially little green wagons, they looked like something you might buy at a garden store to move bags of soil around. But each carried 66 pounds of explosives.

As the remotely controlled vehicles approached the enemy soldiers, an aerial drone flew in and dropped a bomb to help clear a path. One of the robots then rushed in and blew itself up, while the others held back, monitoring the position.

A sheet of cardboard appeared above a trench. “We want to surrender,” it read. Two Russian soldiers then stepped out and walked to Ukrainian lines to be taken as prisoners of war.

The assault, captured on video last summer, shows how Ukraine is pioneering a new way of war, its leaders say.

Ukraine is trying to turn more of the fighting over to unmanned systems as it struggles with troop shortages and seeks ways to defend itself without risking heavy losses of soldiers. The attack last year, which took place in the Kharkiv region, demonstrates that the Ukrainian military can now seize Russian positions solely with automated weapons, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine said this past week.

Manpower remains the most decisive factor on the battlefield, and any future in which wars are fought mostly by robots appears to be far away. But Ukraine is eager to highlight its advances to show Western partners that its outnumbered army can stay in the fight.

Ukraine also wants to promote a homegrown defence industry that could help the country build security partnerships with other nations.

“It is better to throw in metal than people,” said Mykola Zinkevych, a junior lieutenant with the 3rd Army Corps, who commanded the automated attack last year.

“Human life is precious,” he added, “and robots don’t bleed.”

As technology has evolved rapidly on the battlefield in Ukraine, much of the focus has been on the small aerial drones that fill the skies over the front line, keeping watch and attacking virtually anything that moves. But Ukraine is fielding unmanned systems not only in the air but also under the sea and on land.

While ground robots are most widely used for shuttling supplies and for performing medical evacuations in dangerous areas, Ukraine is also using them to conduct attacks at a quickening pace.

Last month, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, the army carried out more than 9,000 front-line missions using unmanned ground vehicles equipped with explosives, machine guns or other weapons like rockets. By comparison, 2,900 such operations were conducted in November 2025, and a year ago they were rare and experimental.

The ground vehicles are slower and more visible than small quadcopter drones, making them more vulnerable to enemy fire. Most last about 24 hours before their batteries die or they are detected and destroyed. In rare operations when unmanned systems are used to
clear a trench, soldiers must then deploy to hold the ground, or at least to replace batteries.

But ground robots can carry much larger explosives than aerial drones can, and they offer a more stable platform for firing guns or rockets.

A Ukrainian military programme that allows soldiers to procure their own
weapons using an internal Amazon-style shopping site offers seven models of ground robots, out of a total of 470 types of drones on offer.

Zelenskyy brought attention to his country’s automated assaults in a slickly produced video released last week. He is hoping to sell Ukrainian systems abroad or trade them for weapons that his country needs.

“The future is already on the front line, and Ukraine is building it,” he says in the clip, with ground robots, aerial drones and missiles illuminated dramatically
behind him.

The video was released before a round of meetings with European leaders. As Ukraine seeks continued military assistance, the government has been eager to show that it is not just a charity case but also a valuable ally that can help other countries strengthen their defences.

Ihor Fedirko, the executive director of the Ukrainian Council of Defence Industry, a trade organisation, said, “Even if you have a top-tier radar, a system that integrates data, or the most advanced drones, even those battle-tested in Ukraine, the key factor is how they are used tactically.” It is this tactical application of unmanned systems that Ukraine can offer, he added.

Before the assault last summer in the Kharkiv region, the Ukrainian army had lost soldiers trying to storm the trench holding Russian forces, Zinkevych, the 3rd Army Corps officer, said.

He had previously served in an infantry assault unit that stormed trenches before taking a role planning unmanned operations. For operational secrecy, the military did not immediately release the information about the robotic assault, he said, as its success spurred other units to try similar tactics.

The use of unmanned ground vehicles in attacks is less about cutting-edge technology and more about instruction in adapting existing systems, said Lt Volodymyr Dehtyarov, public affairs officer for the Khartia Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine.

“Everything always comes down to how well the commander, staff and operators are trained,” Dehtyarov said. “Nothing fundamentally new has appeared, but there are new tactics for robots’ use.”

Operations have become more elaborate since the summertime assault in Kharkiv.

In late February, Russian soldiers occupied a school in the city of Kupiansk in eastern Ukraine. They used the building, which had thick walls, to store ammunition and as a hideout for a drone attack team. The Russian troops put nets over every window, preventing Ukraine from flying an exploding drone into the building.

Lt Andrii Kopach, commander of an unmanned ground systems company with the Khartia Corps, planned an assault with robotic vehicles instead.

One robot carried rockets with thermobaric warheads that are effective in closed spaces, Kopach said. Others held large explosive payloads, one weighing more than 500 pounds.

The vehicles left on their mission in the middle of the night in a snowstorm, to give them protection from Russian drones, Kopach said. He noted that the drivers and pilots carried out the operation from the safety of a city far from the front, using relays for the video and radio commands.

When the robots reached the school building, the vehicle with rockets opened fire, forcing the Russian troops away from the windows, Kopach said. Two other robots then drove nearby or into the building and detonated, setting off the stored ammunition. The building collapsed with at least nine Russian soldiers inside, Kopach said. One managed to crawl out.

That soldier, Kopach added, was killed with an aerial exploding drone that accompanied the assault.

(Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.)