The year 2025 has been a radical change in the Ukraine War. We had seen drones with shotguns of double cannonrobots Lanzaluelaunmanned vessels With missilesairplanes With shotguns or even devices with kilometer cables of optical fiber Looking for its goal through algorithms. However, in recent months a change in trend has been accelerated. Because soldiers are no longer recruited, they are recruited directly robots.
Even if they are antiques.
Improvising on the front line. It Forbes counted. In an abandoned Soviet warehouse in Donetsk, Ukrainian soldiers and engineers transform old vehicles into non -manned combat systems, the called UGV. Under the command of Oleksandr, head of the Robotic Unit of the Antares Battalion, the workshops work thanks to raffles, donations and volunteer networks that Finish pieces and spare parts. Robots arrive with analog communications vulnerable to Russian electronic war and are completely comforted: new chassis, digital systems, StarlinkLte or encrypted links.
Each conversion costs Between 750 and 1,000 dollarswithout counting satellite equipment, and requires maintenance after each mission. Once ready, the UGV are mostly destined for tasks logistics and evacuationtransporting ammunition, food or injured under enemy fire, although some are equipped with turretsmortars or electronic war modules. The speed remains limited and unstable connectivity, which forces them to use them mainly at night or in discretion conditions to avoid Russian kamikaze drones.
Robots against the death zone. The proliferation of drones in Ukraine has extended The Russian “Kill” More than 15 kilometers behind the front line, causing entering or leaving positions to be one of the most lethal maneuvers. In fact, up to a 80% of the casualties Russians are already attributed to unmanned systems, and losses of Ukrainian logistics vehicles have forced multiply the use of UGVS for supplies and evacuations.
The need is so high that in December 2024 the first compound Ukrainian assault was documented entirely by robotsand in July 2025 the 3rd Assault Brigade achieved an operation with Russian surrender Without own casualties. However, the UGV follow being vulnerable: day they are easy prey of FPV drones, and any signal failure can leave a wounded in the open field. Given this, some units are used as suicidal vehicles, launched against trenches, bridges or mined fields to detonate loads and open path.
Another UGV development
An accelerated race. Both kyiv and Moscow They experience With fleets of terrestrial robots, aware that the future of combat will depend on the mass integration of autonomous systems. Ukraine aspires to deploy 15,000 UGV By the end of 2025, supported by The Brave1 programwhile Russia shows prototypes With thermobáric launchers in their state media.
The analysts They point That kyiv maintains advantage thanks to a decentralized network of start-ups and creative brigades, while Russia still depends on fragmented and volunteer efforts. At the same time, other global actors Like China They observe carefully the Ukrainian innovations to incorporate them into their own war doctrines. The test terrain in Donbás is accelerating a cycle of military innovation that in peace times would have been.
Of logistics to direct fire. Ukrainian brigades already work for prototypes that They go further of the simple delivery of supplies: anti -aircraft turrets, UGVs kamikaze with Starlink to attack tanks, and modular platforms that can be adapted according to the mission. The main challenge is to reduce costs and simplify the operation to massify its deployment.
The 28th mechanized brigade even presented a UGV equipped with A manpads Iglacapable of folding drones or low -level helicopters keeping operators covered. The vision is clear: an army in which the machines do the most dangerous work and the soldiers are preserved for control and supervision missions.
The role of civil innovation. The rapid evolution of this robotic war It would not be possible without the direct intervention of Civil engineers and entrepreneurswhich have created a unique ecosystem of warlike innovation. Organizations as dignitas Ukraine They drive the Victory Robots programThey train soldiers in the management of UGVs and spread best practices among brigades.
These initiatives They seek to build a “technological shield” that reduces human casualties and accelerates the adoption of autonomous systems. The next phase, they anticipate, will be the integration of artificial intelligence into terrestrial robots, multiplying their autonomy and efficiency in the battlefield.
A robotic army. The Ukrainian bet for the UGV is not conjunctural, but part of a long -term strategy to compensate for demographic inferiority against Russia. If they manage to industrialize their production and stabilize the supply chain, these robots could become In spine From a hybrid army in which humans and machines fight side by side.
Thus, the perspective of a future where entire brigades are accompanied by swarms of aerial drones and autonomous land vehicles no longer belong to science fiction, but to everyday reality of the Ukrainian front. For kyiv, robotics is more than a tool: it is the key to resist for years in a wear war and, perhaps, to define what the wars of the 21st century will be.
Image | TV Zvezda, Gopua
In Xataka | Something unprecedented in Ukraine is happening: combat drones do not need humans to coordinate and attack
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