A World First: A Ukrainian Navy Drone Deployed A Robotic Paratrooper On The Kinburn Spit

• 13.07.2026, 11:19

A unique operation.

Soldiers of the 123rd Separate Territorial Defense Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have, for the first time in the world, delivered a land-based robotic system to the enemy-occupied coast using a remotely operated unmanned maritime platform.

This was reported by the 123rd Separate Territorial Defense Brigade.

The military covertly delivered and deployed a ground-based robotic complex (GRC) on the occupied shore of the Kinburn Spit in the Mykolaiv region. The operation was conducted under the leadership of Colonel Oleg Makukha, commander of the 123rd Separate Territorial Defense Brigade, and Major Denis Gipik, commander of the 1st Unmanned Systems Battalion of the 123rd Separate Territorial Defense Brigade.

The brigade noted that, until recently, a mission like this seemed like something from the distant future.

“This is the first combat mission of this kind in the world that we are aware of: a ground-based robotic system was delivered to enemy shores using an unmanned maritime platform, deployed onto occupied territory in our homeland, and used to carry out a combat mission,”—the brigade’s statement reads.

The brigade emphasized: this is not a technical toy, but a new approach to conducting combat operations. Now, the machine takes on the risk instead of a human. An unmanned raft carrying the robotic system made it possible to deliver the equipment precisely to a location where every meter of the shore is dangerous and the risk to humans is too high.