## Ukraine's Race for a Robotic Army: A Summary of Technological Adaptation on the Frontlines **News Title:** Ukraine’s Race for a Robotic Army **Source:** KyivPost **Author:** David Kirichenko **Publication Date:** September 15, 2025 This report details Ukraine's intensive development and deployment of Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs), also known as ground robots, as a critical technological adaptation to the ongoing war with Russia. Facing Russia's advantage in resources, Ukraine is increasingly relying on technology to preserve its fighting force and offset manpower shortages. ### Key Findings and Conclusions: * **Strategic Shift to Technology:** Ukraine is actively turning to technology, particularly UGVs, to compensate for Russia's ability to offer higher salaries to its soldiers and to protect its own personnel. * **Grassroots Innovation:** Much of the UGV development is driven by Ukrainian engineers and volunteers working in improvised workshops, often relying on personal connections and civilian donations. * **Adaptation to Battlefield Conditions:** UGVs are being modified to overcome Russian electronic warfare and jamming. Default analog communication systems are being replaced with digital links, including Starlink and LTE cellular networks. * **Versatile Battlefield Roles:** UGVs are being adapted for a wide range of missions, including: * **Logistics and Resupply:** Delivering food, ammunition, and medical supplies to trenches. * **Evacuation:** Transporting injured soldiers from the frontlines. * **Communications Relay:** Carrying masts for enhanced communication networks. * **Electronic Warfare:** Housing electronic warfare modules. * **Strike Missions:** Equipped with remote-controlled turrets, mortars, or used in one-way "kamikaze" roles to destroy enemy positions or infrastructure. * **Mine Clearing:** Assisting in clearing mines. * **Air Defense (Emerging):** The 28th Mechanized Brigade has unveiled an air-defense UGV mounting a 9K38 Igla MANPADS. * **Technological Arms Race:** Both Ukraine and Russia are developing fleets of ground robots, indicating a significant technological arms race. Ukraine is seen as taking the lead with initiatives like "Brave1," while Russia relies more on fragmented, volunteer-led efforts. * **Civilian Innovation as a Driving Force:** Civilian innovators and organizations like Dignitas Ukraine are playing a crucial role in accelerating the adoption of UGV technology, bridging communication gaps, and documenting best practices. * **Future Vision:** Ukraine envisions a future robotic army, with UGVs serving as a cornerstone to offset manpower shortages and enhance soldier safety. The next stage involves integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into these systems. ### Key Statistics and Metrics: * **Cost of Conversion:** Upgrading a single UGV can cost between **$750 to $1,000**, excluding the cost of Starlink hardware and subscriptions. * **UGV Speed:** UGVs can reach speeds of **8 to 10 kilometers per hour** on rough terrain, with **15 kilometers per hour** considered fast but potentially unstable. * **Drone Impact on Casualties:** Drones are estimated to account for up to **80% of Russian battlefield casualties**. * **Killzone Expansion:** The proliferation of drones has pushed Ukraine's "killzone" more than **15 kilometers (9 miles)** past the zero line. * **Drone-Related Injuries:** Colonel Kostiantyn Humeniuk, Chief Surgeon of the Medical Forces of Ukraine, stated, "Almost all the injuries we see now are drone-related." * **Projected UGV Deployment:** Ukraine's leadership hopes to deploy at least **15,000 UGVs by the end of 2025**. ### Notable Risks and Concerns: * **Vulnerability to Drones:** UGVs are highly vulnerable to enemy drones, especially during daylight, leading to their easy spotting and destruction. * **Connectivity Issues:** Loss of signal can strand both the robot and its payload (e.g., a wounded soldier) in exposed areas. * **Electronic Warfare:** Electronic warfare remains a constant challenge, with multiple units operating in the same area and employing jammers. * **Maintenance Demands:** UGVs are mechanical systems that endure heavy loads and require constant servicing after every mission. * **Cost and Complexity:** The cost of upgrading and maintaining UGVs, along with the complexity of operations, can be prohibitive for some units, especially for advanced roles like assault or fire support. * **AI Development Challenges:** Developing effective AI systems for UGVs is difficult due to varied terrain and technical requirements. ### Significant Trends and Changes: * **Increased Frontline Deployment:** The expanding Ukrainian "killzone" and the high number of casualties during logistics and evacuation runs are fueling a surge in UGV deployment. * **Shift from Manual to Robotic Logistics:** UGVs are increasingly taking over logistical burdens, reducing the need for soldiers to drive into dangerous areas or for heavy drones to perform resupply missions. * **Emergence of All-Robot Operations:** Ukraine has conducted documented all-robot assaults and operations using only drones and ground robots. * **Adaptation by Russia:** Russia is also actively developing and deploying its own fleet of ground robots, indicating a reciprocal technological advancement. * **Global Implications:** The development of UAVs and UGVs by Ukraine is seen as setting a precedent for future warfare, with implications for Russia and China. ### Material Financial Data: * The cost of converting a single UGV is estimated at **$750 to $1,000**, not including Starlink hardware and subscriptions. This highlights the significant investment required for each unit's upgrade. ### Important Recommendations (Implied): While not explicitly stated as recommendations, the report strongly suggests the continued importance of: * **Continued Investment in UGV Technology:** The strategic advantage gained from UGVs necessitates ongoing development and deployment. * **Focus on Digital Communication and Resilience:** Countering Russian jamming requires robust digital communication systems and redundancy. * **Civilian-Military Collaboration:** The success of initiatives like Dignitas Ukraine underscores the value of civilian innovation and support in the war effort. * **Development of AI for UGVs:** Integrating AI is seen as the next critical step for enhancing UGV capabilities. * **Addressing Cost and Operational Simplicity:** For broader adoption in roles like assault or fire support, reducing the cost and simplifying operations of UGVs is crucial. The report concludes that while Ukraine's fleet of UGVs is a work in progress, it represents a vital component of its future defense strategy, aiming to offset manpower shortages and enhance the safety of its soldiers.
Ukraine’s Race for a Robotic Army
Read original at Get the Latest Ukraine News Today - KyivPost →In an old Soviet-era warehouse just miles from the front in Donetsk Oblast, sparks fly from a welding torch as Ukrainian engineers crouch over the metal frame of a ground robot. Known as an unmanned ground vehicle, or UGV, the machine is being outfitted for a frontline mission. Oleksandr, the platoon commander of Ground Robotic Complexes with the Antares Battalion of the Rubizh Brigade, watched as his team worked.
“We want the brigade to be recognized, and for people to understand this work matters – that it’s working everywhere,” he told me.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. With little help from above, Oleksandr has built much of his unit through personal connections outside the military and by asking volunteers for support.
Fundraisers, raffles, and donations from civilian networks have kept his workshop running. His platoon now has just a handful of ground robots. The rest of the machines his team has built have gone to other brigades or specialized units. A Ukrainian TERMIT unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) on display during a Ukrainian Ground Forces demonstration.
Photo: David Kirichenko These machines are being developed against the backdrop of a war now in its fourth year. Ukraine is locked in a grinding conflict of attrition with Russia. Fueled by oil and gas revenues, Moscow can offer hefty salaries to lure men to the front. Kyiv cannot match that approach and is increasingly turning to technology to preserve its fighting force.
Other Topics of Interest Ukraine Long-Range Attacks Hammer St. Petersburg’s Energy Infrastructure Russia’s Baltic Sea city in Russia’s second-most-important region saw Ukraine’s special forces set shadow tankers and an oil refinery ablaze, then ambush a fuel train within 72 hours. The work in Oleksandr’s shop is constant and often improvised.
New UGVs arriving from manufacturers usually come with default analog communication systems that are vulnerable to Russian jamming. “The conditions on the ground dictate their own rules, and we have to convert all drones to digital control,” Oleksandr explained. His team strips the machines down, welds new mounting frames, rewires them, and installs Starlink, LTE cellular networks, or encrypted digital links before testing and deployment.
The upgrades make the robots far more resilient, but also more expensive. Converting a single UGV can cost the equivalent of $750 to $1,000 – without counting the Starlink hardware and subscription. And maintenance is constant. “These are mechanical systems, and they endure heavy loads,” Oleksandr said.
“After every mission, they need servicing.” Once upgraded, the machines are tailored for the battlefield’s most urgent needs. Some are fitted with remote drop systems to deliver food, ammunition, or medical supplies to trenches without exposing soldiers. Others carry masts for communications relays or electronic warfare modules and also conduct evacuations of injured soldiers.
Oleksandr said UGVs can also be equipped with remote-controlled turrets or mortars. Speed matters. “Even 15 kilometers per hour is a lot,” Oleksandr said. “On rough terrain, you won’t go that fast without flipping or hitting something. Eight to ten is still okay.” But their primary role remains logistics and evacuation.
Units avoid using them during the day, when they are easily spotted and destroyed by Russian first-person-view, or FPV, drones. Connectivity is another constant worry; if a robot loses signal while carrying a wounded soldier, it can strand both machine and patient in the open. “The drone drives up to a trench or dugout, releases the load, and leaves,” Oleksandr explained.
“Nobody is exposed – not the soldiers in the trench, not the UGV operator.” Ukrainian soldiers turn to ground robots to survive the killzone Ukraine’s use of unmanned systems has transformed warfare on land, at sea, and in the air. Ukraine’s “drone wall,” a layered defense of drones, has blunted Russia’s meat-grinder assaults, including motorcycle charges aimed at breaking through.
According to Army Technology estimates, drones now account for up to 80% of Russian battlefield casualties. Ukraine’s expanding killzone, pushed more than 15 kilometers (9 miles) past the zero line by the proliferation of drones, is fueling a surge in frontline deployment of UGVs. The most dangerous task now is simply moving in and out of frontline positions, where Ukraine suffers many of its casualties.
Losses during logistics and evacuation runs have been so heavy that units are short of pickup trucks. Unjammed fiber-optic drones have increasingly been hunting anything that comes near the front. As Colonel Kostiantyn Humeniuk, Chief Surgeon of the Medical Forces of Ukraine, told me, “Almost all the injuries we see now are drone-related.
” Ground robots are taking on more of the logistical burden, delivering supplies to forward positions and reducing the need for soldiers to drive vehicles into the killzone or for drone units to divert heavy bombers such as the “Baba Yaga” to resupply soldiers in the trenches. By December 2024, Ukraine carried out its first documented all-robot assault against Russian positions.
In July 2025, the 3rd Assault Brigade said it conducted an operation using only drones and ground robots that led to Russian troops surrendering with no Ukrainian casualties. But these ground robots are highly vulnerable to drones, especially during daylight. UGVs can also be employed in one-way strike roles, driving into enemy trenches or logistics bridges to detonate and destroy them, as well as for clearing mines.
In the future, soldiers expect that they will also serve as air defense, portable turrets that drive around and shoot down drones in the sky. In early August, the 28th Mechanized Brigade unveiled what it says is the war’s first air-defense UGV: a remote-controlled ground robot mounting a 9K38 Igla MANPADS to engage low-flying aircraft while keeping crews under cover.
Technological arms race between Kyiv and Moscow After a few years of war, Moscow has learned from many of its mistakes. Now, Russia is also working on developing a fleet of ground robots. A Russian news report in August showcased a UGV armed with four rocket-assisted thermobaric launchers. Ukraine’s leadership hopes to deploy at least 15,000 of these robots by the end of 2025.
But the Russians are also attempting to innovate and deploy ground robots as well, using these unmanned systems for similar functions. Samuel Bendett, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, told me that while both Ukraine and Russia are pursuing decentralized approaches to ground robots, “Ukraine is taking the lead with its Brave1 initiative and growing production pipeline,” adding that “Russia still relies heavily on fragmented, volunteer-led efforts at the front.
” Deborah Fairlamb, co-founder of Green Flag Ventures, a venture capital fund for Ukrainian startups said, “Whether the collective West likes it or not, UAVs and UGVs are now part of the battlefield terrain for Russia and China.” Ukrainian brigades are constantly experimenting with new battlefield roles for UGVs, from air defense to assault and one-way strike missions.
“Russia has learned from this war and is adapting. China is watching and learning too,” she added. Serhii Kuzan, chairman of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center and former Ministry of Defense adviser said, “Ukraine’s adaptation to robotics is accelerating.” He added that “their use on the battlefield will grow significantly in the near future.
” Experimenting with the future of UGVs “In the future, we want ground robots to serve air defense roles, outfitted with turrets to shoot down enemy drones, clearing the way for others to move in,” said Eugene, UGV company commander in the 92nd Assault Brigade. Ruslan, a soldier from the 92nd Assault Brigade prepares for a frontline robotics mission.
Photo: Ryan Van Ert “We even have night FPVs hunting UGVs,” said Eugene. “Thermal visibility isn’t a huge problem as our electric UGVs produce minimal heat.” Other front-line units are pushing the technology in a different direction. Kostas, known as “El Greco” from the 3rd Assault Brigade, told me that for now their main task is logistics and medical evacuations.
“To expand to assault or fire support, we need to lower the cost and simplify operations,” he said. Some of the new ground robots are being adapted for one‑way missions. These kamikaze UGVs, Kostas said, are fitted with Starlink terminals “only when targeting high‑value assets, like tanks.” The challenge, he added, is that “you need to modify the drone yourself, pay for Starlink, and add components.
It’s expensive and takes work.” Ruslan, a UGV operator with the Bulava Battalion of Ukraine’s 72nd Mechanized Brigade, said the robots are usually guided by a Mavic drone flying overhead because their onboard infrared cameras glow brightly through night vision – “a beacon for the enemy.” For that reason, he added, “we avoid them; it’s too easy to get spotted and destroyed.
” Signal loss can be just as dangerous as enemy fire. Andrii, the commander of the Bulava Battalion, said electronic warfare is a constant challenge, with “too many units operating in the same area, each with their own jammers.” To counter it, he added, “we’re now on nonstandard frequencies and planning to add Starlink to each vehicle so there’s redundancy.
” “The terrain is full of obstacles, and the technical requirements are very different, which makes developing effective AI systems for UGVs an even harder problem,” said Vitaliy Goncharuk, CEO of A19Lab and former Chairman of the Artificial Intelligence Committee of Ukraine. “In practice, solutions that simply attach fiber optics to UGVs may prove more effective and solve the immediate challenges.
” Civilian innovators are building Ukraine’s technology shield While soldiers experiment with battlefield tactics, civilian innovators are shaping the technology pipeline itself. “Ukrainian engineers are creating the future of warfare, not just for Ukraine, but for the world,” said Lyuba Shipovich, CEO of Dignitas Ukraine.
“The people we work with love us. Some officers hate us because we push them to do more work,” she said. Shipovich’s team Dignitas Ukraine, launched Victory Robots, an initiative aimed at rapidly fielding unmanned ground systems on the front lines. Volunteers through organizations like Dignitas are working to promote UGVs across units on the front, as their instructors train soldiers on how to use them.
In announcing the project in June, the group said it was “building a tech-driven advantage for Ukraine’s defenders” to “protect lives and reduce human losses.” Volunteers like Dignitas are accelerating the military’s adoption of new technologies and bridging communication gaps between brigades at the front.
Dignitas ensures they document best practices and share them between different units, scaling the most effective solutions. “Ukrainian engineers are creating the future of warfare, not just for Ukraine, but for the world,” said Shipovich. She added that the next stage for Ukraine’s military is to rapidly develop AI and weave it into ground robotics.
For now, Ukraine’s fleet of UGVs remains a work in progress. But Kyiv sees them as a cornerstone of a future robotic army – one that could help offset the country’s manpower shortages and keep more soldiers out of harm’s way. The push reflects a larger strategy to create a technology shield that reinforces Ukraine’s defenses and ensures that Kyiv can stay in the fight for many years to come.
