Ukrainian Armed Forces Robots Launched An Offensive
- 11.07.2026, 15:18
They were used in the Zaporizhzhia region.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces have begun using ground-based robotic systems (NRTK) not only for defense but also in offensive operations, the Russian Ministry of Defense stated. According to the ministry, two ground combat robots equipped with machine guns were deployed in the Orekhov direction in the Zaporizhzhia region. The Ministry of Defense claims that strike drone crews detected two ground-based robotic systems advancing toward Russian positions; subsequently, according to the ministry’s statement, both systems were destroyed, the website The Moscow Times.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported back in December 2024 that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had conducted their first combat operation in which robotic ground systems were used exclusively in place of infantry. At that time, according to the institute, Ukrainian units attacked Russian positions near Liptsy in the Kharkiv region using ground-based unmanned vehicles equipped with machine guns, as well as drones for reconnaissance and mine clearance. In April of this year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had, “for the first time in the history of this war,” captured a position and taken Russian servicemen prisoner using only unmanned platforms—ground-based robotic systems and drones. Nikolai Zinkevich, commander of Ukraine’s first UAV unit, later clarified that this operation had actually taken place last summer, and that by March 2026, more than 150 units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were already using combat robots. According to him, Ukraine expects to replace up to 30% of its personnel with technology in the most dangerous sections of the front by the end of the year.
In January, The Telegraph reported that the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Third Army Corps had used the DevDroid TW 12.7 ground robot, equipped with a Browning M2 machine gun, in a defensive operation; the robot held its position for 45 days, replacing several soldiers at once. In March, Time magazine reported on the delivery to Ukraine for testing of the first American Phantom MK-1 humanoid robots, developed by Foundation. The platform’s creators stated that they plan to eventually deploy robots on the battlefield in place of humans and adapt them to use virtually any small arms.