A first in the history of this war: how killer robots and drones are changing the front between Ukraine and Russia

For over four years, the war in Ukraine has served as a laboratory for military innovations that are deeply transforming the conduct of combat. Drones have gradually imposed themselves on the battlefield, and now robots are replacing humans. Ukraine claims to have won a battle without sending a single soldier.

“For the first time in the history of this war, an enemy position was taken exclusively with the help of robots and drones. The occupants surrendered, and we suffered no losses,” rejoiced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The brigade responsible for this operation specifies that this attack took place last summer on the front. Kamikaze robots destroyed the entrance of a shelter, while other machines, mini-tanks equipped with machine guns, targeted Russian soldiers who surrendered.

Operations of this kind have been increasing on the front in recent months, with dozens of propaganda videos praising the exploits of the killer robots, these mini-tanks with machine guns, or these small kamikaze vehicles capable of destroying an enemy position.

It’s starting to look fiercely futuristic like a battle.

Marc Chassillan, weapons system engineer.

“There are indeed aggressive operations carried out with robots armed with machine guns, rockets, missiles. Their movement is coordinated by drones in the sky,” explains Marc Chassillan, a weapons system engineer.

Robots now target fighters but can also fight against each other, with no soldiers directly engaged on the ground. “Machine-to-machine confrontations, either robots against each other or aerial drones attacking ground robot units. So, there is a remote-controlled battle taking place with operators at the back of the front line. And it’s starting to look fiercely futuristic where men stay in the background, and it’s the machines that fight each other,” he adds.

Thanks to a cutting-edge industry, Ukraine and Russia produce thousands of low-cost robots. Most of the robots mainly perform logistical missions on the front line and facilitate the evacuation of the wounded.