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Ever the innovators, Ukraine has spent almost five years coming up with ways to defend itself against Russia. What others say can't be done is what Ukraine does. Taking control of the Black Sea despite not having a navy and causing attrition to a force that has far more manpower are two examples. But this… This is different. Ukraine has built something that shouldn't exist so that it can take the fight to Russia. And that "something" is part of a revolution that has the potential to rewrite the way that war is fought.
Ukraine has no choice but to take the massive step it has taken. And if it can pull off what it intends to do, Russia is finished. We head deep into Donetsk, somewhere near the region of Lyman, where Russia had spent months building a salient that bulged through the Ukrainian lines. As a Russian soldier, you would have been feeling pretty good about where you had been posted. Sure, you might end up on the front lines sooner or later. But before that, you were hunkered down over 10 kilometers away, believing yourself to be relatively safe.
Not 100% safe, of course. The buzzing of drones in the skies above could always signal an aerial attack on your position. Still, you know that you're not going to be fighting infantry any time soon. One day, you hear the drones overhead once more, and you hide away. Only, something is different this time around. The drones didn't attack, and, for a moment, you assume that they were conducting reconnaissance. You can't be sure. A few minutes pass. Then, a few more. And just as you're starting to feel as comfortable as a Russian soldier can feel in Ukraine, it happens. An explosion goes off, right by your position.
How could this happen? That explosion sounded like a grenade, but there are no drones carrying explosives that you can see, and Ukraine couldn't possibly have sent soldiers so deep behind the lines. You peek out from your hidey-hole, just long enough to see another grenade coming your way. For a second before the explosion takes your life, you get a glimpse of who fired at you. No, not who. What. You'll learn what the "what" is in a moment. First, this is The Military Show, and we're real people producing researched and fact-checked military reporting. If you want to support that, subscribe, share your thoughts below, and consider
becoming a member for exclusive content we don't publish publicly. You see a machine. A small ground robot loaded with a grenade launcher is advancing on your position. Not that you're going to see what happens next, as the explosion from the second grenade eliminates you from the war that your insane leader started. While this sounds like it was pulled out of a sci-fi film, this scenario isn't make-believe. It's what actually happened, as executed by Ukraine's Third Army Corps, during the initial phase of Operation Vivaldi. Ground robots operating in Ukraine are no big secret. They've been around for several years now. But what we're seeing is robots being used to carry out assaults
against Russian positions, using weapons that are traditionally carried by infantry. The Third Army Corps itself provided many of the details in an X post detailing what it achieved during the first phase of Operation Vivaldi. "NRCs equipped with two Bullspike grenade launchers attacked the Russians at their positions, then detonated directly in their shelters. The occupiers thought they were being hit by an entire assault group. But in reality, it was the robots of the Third Assault that f***ed them over," the corps declared. In a similar post on Telegram, the corps revealed that its ground robots, or the "NRCs" mentioned
a moment ago, are doing everything that an assault unit can do. Strikes are being delivered, positions are being cleared. Add to that the psychological pressure being exerted just by the sight of these killer robots doing their work, and you get a revolution in warfare. The age of infantry may be over. The rise of the robots is beginning. United24 Media provides more information about how the assaults took place. The two Bullspike grenade launcher-carrying robots had two roles.
First, they approached a Russian position, firing grenades to kill any occupiers unfortunate enough to get in their way. Those who survived headed into their hidey-holes, believing that they might be safe. That's when the ground robots advanced deeper, heading into the Russian hiding places before detonating themselves in kamikaze assaults that wiped everything out. As for the operators, they controlled everything from positions several dozen kilometers behind the front lines. What we see here is terrifying, as Ukraine has developed the beginnings of a robot army that is capable of mimicking an infantry assault without any of the risk involved in such an assault.
Soldiers aren't being sent to clear Russian positions. Soldiers aren't dying to defeat Russia, and that is vital, as you'll soon find out. Russia couldn't have expected any of this. How could it have? The soldiers who died to Ukraine's ground robots in Operation Vivaldi would have thought they needed to be set up to battle a human assault force. They may have prepared positions and had rifles ready, always looking for people who never came. By the time the robots were among them, it would have been too late. But still, as they came under fire, they would be asking questions.
How did those robots get to them? Not only were they over 10 kilometers behind the front, but they'd set up defenses, including mines and anti-vehicle barriers, to stop vehicles and even ground robots. Here's where another terrifying twist comes into play. Ukraine's ground robots aren't traveling by the medium that gives them their name. These robots are flying into the battlefield. What the Third Army Corps doesn't mention in its posts is that Operation Vivaldi saw more world firsts than Russian positions being taken using ground robots carrying grenade launchers.
On September 21, Newsweek reported that Ukraine had carried out the first-ever airborne robot assault by deploying ground robots behind the front lines. Heavy bomber drones were used to drop a different, but no less deadly, payload onto Russian positions. Often, these ground drones weren't packing grenade launchers. They were basic kamikaze ground robots that simply advanced on Russian positions, often going undetected until they were close enough to deliver their explosive payloads. We later learned, thanks to a September 28 report by RBC-Ukraine, that the Alter Ego ground robot battalion of Ukraine's 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade developed a unique technology to make this aerial assault happen.
The battalion invented the Desantnyk drone, which was designed to be dropped from a heavy bomber. That drone took just 10 days to go from concept to combat deployment, and it's fair to say that Operation Vivaldi has proven its viability. Another element to the horror has been added. An element that will likely spread through the Ukrainian army, as Alter Ego shares its tech and its methods. For Russia, if it's not ground robots launching the equivalent of infantry assaults, it's robots being air-dropped to their positions before sneaking up to launch kamikaze strikes. It's still war, but not as anybody in Russia knows it.
Ukraine never wanted things to go this far. These robots are being deployed out of necessity, rather than desire. But now that they're here, Russia has a potentially war-altering new enemy to deal with. And the horror is just getting started. New programs are being launched to ensure that Ukraine has the best possible chance to pull off a victory using its ground robots. Before we dig a little deeper into that, this is a reminder that you're watching The Military Show. If this is the kind of insight that you want to see, make sure you're subscribed to the channel and have notifications enabled so you never miss a video.
We head to September 26. Just a few days after the Third Army Corps revealed what it pulled off during Operation Vivaldi, a major Ukrainian figure decided the perfect time to make some waves had arrived. Mykhailo Fedorov, who you may remember as the short-lived but extremely popular former Defense Minister of Ukraine, announced that he had founded a new initiative. Disillusioned by the politics of war, Fedorov has instead decided to launch a private program that he believes will help his country secure victory against Russia. That program has a name: Army of Robots.
The Kyiv Independent has the details on Fedorov's new project, noting that the former Defense Minister's goal is to replace human beings on the battlefield in every way possible. His announcement, which was made at the IT Arena conference in Lviv on September 26, sees Fedorov move into the defense tech industry in a way that nobody could have expected. The Army of Robots won't be created by one company. Rather, it is an ecosystem of several companies that are working together to create the current and next generations of ground robots that Ukraine uses in its fight against Russia.
"We will invest in defense tech companies, launch our own technology projects, create R&D capabilities, test solutions together with the military, and scale up as quickly as possible the things that actually work on the battlefield," Fedorov declared at the conference. Such an announcement would already strike fear into Russian hearts. However, it is the man behind the program, and the ideas that have inspired the Army of Robots, that turn fear into abject terror.
Fedorov is no "tech bro" who makes promises that he doesn't intend to keep. He is a man who has dedicated his considerable expertise to leveraging technology to overcome the Russian threat from the moment that Putin invaded. Way back in the summer of 2022, Fedorov spearheaded the Army of Drones initiative. That project managed to survive corruption scandals, which Fedorov played a role in exposing, and it has helped to develop the drone-heavy approach that Ukraine uses today. Ukraine is now the world's foremost drone powerhouse, having signed deals all over the world for drone production. Domestically, Ukraine produces about 10 million drones annually,
and it plans to double this production rate with the support of its partners, says UNN. Ukraine's drones are also incredibly effective. In March 2026, during Fedorov's third month as Ukraine's Defense Minister, Russia suffered 36,000 casualties, United24 Media reports. 90% of those casualties were caused by drones. It's fair to say that the Army of Drones concept, with Fedorov's help, became a success. So, when Fedorov says that the Army of Robots initiative is being modeled after the Army of Drones concept, Russia has a real reason to worry. A blueprint has already been created, and that blueprint has led to millions of Ukrainian drones that tear up Russian soldiers on the front,
shatter logistics in the rear, and destroy key facilities inside Russia itself. Imagine that concept applied to ground robots that can be used for everything from infantry assaults to logistical tasks. Hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions, of robots. That appears to be what Fedorov envisions with his new project. The former Defense Minister is already making plenty of headway. Beyond announcing the ecosystem that will feed the Army of Robots concept, Fedorov has been busy setting up a fund.
Toward the end of August, Fedorov headed to the U.S. to make an offer and seek funding. The offer was as helpful to Ukraine as an entire army of robots would be. Fedorov tried to get the U.S. to agree to share Patriot missile technology with Ukraine in exchange for Ukraine sharing its drone technology. However, while in the U.S., Fedorov also sought backing from private investors, U.S. tech firms, and venture capitalists for a fund that would invest in Ukrainian defense companies and focus on the development of battlefield technology. "This is not exactly a classic venture fund. We're writing a new history of the war," Fedorov declared.
Just a few weeks later, we're seeing what that new history will look like. A day or two after his visit, Fedorov announced that he was going to be opening a new defense tech firm, with the backing of the CEO of Palantir, Alex Karp. "We've worked together for a half decade. I have been absolutely inspired by what you and the Ukrainians have pulled off, and very and super delighted that we could play a part," Karp said during the announcement. Again, we see pieces being put in place for what would become the Army of Robots concept. Fedorov hasn't confirmed that the funds he aimed to get from the U.S. and the new defense company he formed with Palantir's backing will be part of the Army of Robots.
But it's hard to see how they wouldn't be. The timeline from one development to the next is less than a month, and if there's one thing we know about Fedorov, it's that he values speed of execution. "Even outside government, now from the private sector, we are continuing to work on our vision of technological warfare - Air. Land. Economy. - and on our main mission: to create technologies that help Ukraine win and save the lives of our service members," Fedorov says of his new project. That last statement is especially important.
Ukraine hasn't started building more lethal ground robots simply because it can. The one thing that underpins every new robot development, including the assault being carried out as part of Operation Vivaldi, is that Ukraine wants to preserve the lives of its soldiers. Almost five years of war have drained Ukraine's army. According to UA Losses, Ukraine's confirmed casualties amounted to 212,974 people, as of September 28. Around half of those people are confirmed dead, with almost 98,000 having unknown fates. While nowhere near as heavy as Russia's losses,
which Ukraine says amount to over 1.5 million soldiers and counting, this is still a lot of people lost. Russia also has a major manpower advantage. And though that advantage is being whittled away by Ukraine, which is now causing more casualties per month than Russia is able to account for via recruiting, there is a clear mismatch when it comes to soldiers. Ukraine had to do something to save as many of its soldiers as possible. Ground robots are increasingly looking like the answer.
Even before killer robots were introduced onto the battlefield, Ukraine was using ground robots to save the lives of soldiers. Sometimes, that was being done directly, as Ukraine used its robots to carry injured soldiers away from the front and back to the rear, where they could be treated. Other aspects of life preservation are more indirect. For instance, the Modern War Institute at West Point notes that the use of robotic platforms to carry out logistical operations had resulted in a 30% reduction in casualties by March. More robots mean more lives saved. And with the Army of Robots concept now upon us, we imagine tech like that used in Operation Vivaldi will soon go from
being isolated to a few units to becoming standard issue across the Ukrainian army. Fedorov is far from the only person working to make ground robots the game-changer they have the potential to be in Ukraine. Technicians who are part of individual units are also working on the technology, often bringing insight into what these robots need to do that comes directly from experience gained on the front. We've already seen that with the Alter Ego battalion and its Desantnyk drone. Deep in Kharkiv, a mechanic with the callsign Chimera is also hard at work developing ground
robots that can carry explosives to halt an advance. That's according to Reuters, which says that Chimera is working on a robot he calls the "Hyena." And he isn't the only one. Workshops like the one Chimera uses are popping up all over the Ukrainian front line, as engineers tweak existing ground robots or develop tech of their own to serve any number of military needs. In essence, the Army of Robots is already being created by the ingenious developers on the front. But those developers need somebody who can focus their efforts and ensure production is achieved at a level that benefits all of Ukraine.
That seems to be where Fedorov and his Army of Robots project comes into play. One feeds into the other to deliver death to the Russian invaders. We've focused a lot on the latest revolution in ground robots. Unmanned ground vehicles being used to launch grenades at Russian positions, being air-dropped to those positions, and using kamikaze attacks to take them out all tell us that Ukraine is getting serious with its use of robots. But the robots aren't just killers.
They can be lifesavers, and not just for military personnel. We head to Oleshky, which is in the Kherson oblast of Ukraine. There, a humanitarian crisis is underway, as civilians are being starved by Russian soldiers, who are preventing Ukraine from sending aid. Cut off from food and water by constant shelling and Russian drones, these civilians are living through one of the most harrowing crises yet seen during the war. One, named Halia, managed to tell her story to the BBC. The last food delivery to the city was back in May, Halia says. "I eat once a day, a dinner only. I make some plain bread. Sometimes I can have it with a tomato,
or with some honey, and a tea. That's it." Others don't even have that. Residents of Oleshky who have run out of vegetables they were growing for themselves are resorting to cooking garden weeds. It is a desperate situation created by Russian brutality. And Ukraine is using drones to solve it as best it can. According to the Kherson Oblast Military Administration, Ukraine has delivered about four tons of food to 100 locations in Oleshky using drones since March. This has been confirmed by a resident who spoke to The Kyiv Independent, who said, "(Drones) dropped the packages in several places. (The packages) contained a little bit of medicine
and food. I don't know whose drone it was, but I reckon it was Ukraine that dropped them for us." The problem, The Kyiv Independent says, is that Russian occupiers in the city often hunt for residents who pick up these packages. And if found, those residents end up being beaten and brutally tortured. Ground robots haven't been deployed to Oleshky yet. But what Ukraine is doing with its robots in places like Donetsk could transform how it delivers these packages. Imagine, instead of a small drone dropping a tiny package, Ukraine sends a mothership drone loaded with several unmanned ground vehicles.
Each of those vehicles is dropped in a safe location, loaded with food. Then, it starts moving, carrying that food to where it needs to be, perhaps covered by aerial drones that attack any Russian forces who attempt to stop it. The potential for such lifesaving humanitarian work is there. Ukraine's robot revolution may have a bigger impact in the occupied territories than it first appears. We can say for certain that these robots are changing the rules of warfare. Russia knows it as well as Ukraine, and it's trying to catch up on the ground robot front. But, as is so often the case, Russia is a long way behind Ukraine with this technology.
Back in May, Pravda reported that Russia doesn't believe ground robots will be able to perform combat missions for another decade or more. Ukraine's robots are already involved in combat. The future that Russia can't reach is now the present for Ukraine. Russia is trying to catch up. Pravda says that Russia now has at least 20 companies producing 29 different types of ground robots. But 12 of these companies are subject to Western sanctions already, and more will likely follow. But even with this push, Russia lacks the ingenuity that we see from Ukraine. What was supposed to take over a decade for Russia has been proven a reality by Ukraine. Ground robots carrying grenade launchers and explosives
are now part of assaults. Other robots help with logistics and evacuations, and the potential to deliver aid to where it is needed exists, albeit unrealized right now. Operation Vivaldi has shown us that Ukraine is rewriting all of the rules of warfare. And you can learn more about the beautifully brutal symphony Ukraine is conducting by watching our video, where we dig deeper into the operation and what it represents. But before you go, this channel is built by real people who care about getting the story right. Subscribe, join the conversation below, and consider becoming a member to support human-made military reporting and unlock exclusive content.
