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Ukraine has used a record 7,000 robot missions in a single month to hold off advancing Russian forces.
A Ukrainian drone operator spoke to The Guardian and said the frontline is now “more like Terminator.”
“A land robot arrives at your position and there is nothing you can do about it.”
“You can shoot a person in the chest and they stop firing. If you shoot a ground robot it doesn’t feel pain.”
The New York Post explains, “When Kyiv first deployed robots to the frontlines in 2024, they came in limited shapes and sizes. Now a variety of killer droids can fire shots, lay mines and launch grenades at the enemy—among other tasks that led to the record-breaking mission count in January.”
It’s reported that more than a hundred Russian soldiers surrendered to robots in January.
Production of robots increased sixfold in 2025, making robots the fastest growing area of Ukraine’s defense industry, with an estimated market size of $252 million.
Robots has also been employed to provide medical aid to wounded Ukrainian soldiers, and to search for mines.
Robots are now estimated to comprise 90% of Ukrainian army logistics.
“It’s very difficult to move around because of enemy first-person-view drones. So we use robotic systems,” said Victor Pavlov, a lieutenant with Ukraine’s 3rd Army Corps.
In 2024, Ukraine began employing “kamikaze” dogs, and last year small robot tanks with machine guns were deployed to the frontline.
