Published on April 14, 2026 at 23:49
The war continues in Ukraine and could take a new turn, with a first since the beginning of the conflict: Ukrainians have managed to retake a Russian position not thanks to their army, but through robots. Killer robots and drones launched the assault without any soldiers being deployed. They forced the Russians to retreat. Volodymyr Zelensky spoke of a historic advance. Report from on site.
Unmanned vehicles progress where soldiers would not go. Minefields, enemy fire, nothing stops them. They are equipped with cannons. Arriving in front of the Russian trench, they open fire. Ukrainians pilot these remote-controlled tanks from a safe distance, several kilometers behind. “Before, we saw ground drones as a small bonus. But now, it is the foundation of our entire military strategy,” explains a soldier.
100% robotic attacks, supported by drones. In images, we can see Russian soldiers surrendering without having seen any Ukrainian soldiers in front of them. These ultra-modern ground drones have been engaged in thousands of operations for three months. President Zelensky announced the complete capture of a position: “For the first time in the history of this war, an enemy position was taken exclusively by unmanned ground robots and drones.”
For the military, already accustomed to drone warfare, this new doctrine will save lives: “It is the war of the future that is already here. And it will help to avoid or minimize direct contact on the front line in the future,” assures a Ukrainian soldier. For Ukraine, this robotization of certain operations could represent a real turning point: “Overall, they estimate that by the end of 2026, 20 to 30% of the soldiers currently holding the front line could be replaced by robots, obviously very cost-effective and efficient,” points out Xavier Tytelman, an expert in aeronautics.
For the past two months, human-shaped robots of American manufacture have been tested on the front line in Ukraine. Reality is beginning to catch up with fiction in this technological race, where innovation has become a weapon of war in its own right.
