In the blood-soaked trenches of frontline Ukraine, Kyiv’s ingenious troops stormed a Russian position and forced Kremlin troops to give up the fight – using a combination of remote robots and drones
Russian troops were forced to surrender to Ukrainian robots and drones in the first fully-automated attack of its kind, Kyiv has claimed.
Ukraine ’s troops successfully stormed a Russian position using an assault force of just robots and drones, forcing the invaders to give up the fight.
The astonishing victory, believed to the first of its kind, follows years of developing Ukrainian battlefield robots in a bid to save lives on the frontline. President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media: “The future is already on the front line – and Ukraine is building it.
“These are our ground robotic systems. For the first time in the history of this war, an enemy position was taken exclusively by unmanned platforms – ground systems and drones.
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He continued his post by saying: “The occupiers surrendered, and the operation was carried out without infantry and without losses on our side.”
It comes as it emerged the UK is providing 120,000 drones to Ukraine in what the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said is the largest delivery of its kind.
Applauding Ukraine’s robot systems he paid tribute to a number of designs including Ratel, TerMIT, Ardal, Rys, Zmiy, Protector and Volia.
He said they had ‘already carried out more than 22,000 missions on the front in just three months.’ And he added: “In other words, lives were saved more than 22,000 times when a robot went into the most dangerous areas instead of a warrior.
“This is about high technology protecting the highest value – human life.” Ukraine’s engineers and military researchers are working round the clock to build new robot systems to fight the Russian advance.
In one hidden location near the front, Ukrainian soldiers are building the machines in Kharkiv. Dubbed UGVs – or Unmanned Ground Vehicles the systems are being made for Ukraine’s robot forces in the Khartia Brigade.
Some of the robots are non combat machine aimed at delivering food, supplies, ammunition, fuel, generators and everything needed to sustain positions.” One soldier told the Kyiv Post newspaper: “These are ground robotic systems used mainly for logistics.
“They deliver food, supplies, ammunition, fuel, generators – everything needed to sustain positions. In 2022, we didn’t have them. There wasn’t such a need. Now, driving to positions with vehicles, pickups or armoured cars, is very difficult.”
Most of the robots only survive a few missions because of the wear and tear of battle. And when a robot is put out of action by a bullet or a blast the Ukrainians try and track it down since most of the components are re-usable.
More than one million Russian troops are believed to have been put out of action on the battlefield through death or injury. And President Putin is increasingly having to look outside Russia for new recruits, taking on North Korean and African reinforcements as state-sponsored mercenaries. UK Defence Secretary John Healey said “with eyes on the Middle East in recent weeks, Putin wants us to be distracted.”
