How robots are a lifeline to troops on Ukraine’s eastern front

“The game has been delivered,” a Ukrainian soldier whispered into the radio.

In the middle of the night, he and his partner move quickly to get their load off the truck. Speed ​​is crucial because it is within the range of Russian killer drones.

The 5th Brigade’s new “toy” is an unmanned ground vehicle, a robot that provides a lifeline to Ukrainian forces on the front in Pokrovsk and Mirnograd, the strategic center in eastern Ukraine.

Russian forces are relentlessly trying to cut off Ukrainian supply routes in the region.

Without fresh food and ammunition, Ukraine’s front-line soldiers will face a choice between surrender or a costly withdrawal.

Kiev has sent special forces, special assault units and drone groups to reinforce its forces in and around Pokrovsk, but Russia’s control of the roads leading to the city means entering armored vehicles would lead to almost certain death.

Transporting heavy supplies on foot would be equally dangerous.

This is where the robot, also known as a drone, comes in instead of traditional troop deployments.

The Battle of Pokrovsk will likely go down in history as the first in which unmanned ground vehicles were used on a large scale, largely to deliver supplies and evacuate the wounded.

The robot is small enough to squeeze into a bike lane, and looks like a small tank without a turret.

Unmanned vehicles (UGVs) are harder to detect, harder to jam than drones, and, most importantly, soldiers can operate them remotely from a safer location.

They save soldiers’ lives and represent the future of the army, according to Ihor, head of unmanned systems in the Ukrainian Army’s 7th Corps.

He says about 90% of all supplies to the front line in Pokrovsk are now delivered by unmanned ground vehicles.

Meanwhile, Russian forces are trying to take over the city by strangling supply chains and relentlessly launching remote-controlled drones to target anything that moves in what is widely called the “kill zone.”

This 30-kilometre-wide stretch along the front line is within reach of drones from both sides.

Constant aerial reconnaissance means that any movement in the kill zone is quickly detected and attacked by drones as well as conventional weapons such as artillery, mortars and aerial bombs.

It’s a situation that military doctor Vitsek and ground drone operator know well. These are their call signs, not their real names.

When they tried to evacuate wounded Ukrainian soldiers from Pokrovsk last month, they were quickly spotted and had only seconds to rush to a nearby house to escape the buzzing of Russian drones.

“One drone after another attacked us,” Vitsek recalls. “As soon as the drone hit the ground and exploded, the next one appeared immediately. They also fired artillery and mortar shells to try to kill us.”

The walls that Vitsek and Auditor hid behind shook with each explosion. The barrage continued for 59 minutes, and eventually they sneaked into a nearby building and escaped.

Inside Pokrovsk, the threat of drones from above is ever-present.

“We run from one bush to another, from one house to another, from one street to another,” says Vitsek.

Thanks to these first-person drones, Russian forces are on the verge of cutting off all roads leading to Pokrovsk.

They claim to have surrounded the entire region, but Kyiv has repeatedly denied this.

The head of the Ukrainian intelligence agency HUR, Kyrylo Budanov, told local media that the situation in Pokrovsk is “very difficult” but that Ukraine is “still standing there.”

However, moving troops into and around the city is very dangerous, and Ukrainian forces have tried to limit the rotation of people in and out of the city due to the high risks.

As a result, soldiers remain in front-line positions for weeks, and sometimes months.

It has made delivering supplies a more urgent task, and this means that the demand for unmanned ground vehicles is increasing.

One unit of the 5th Brigade can perform several logistics missions using unmanned ground vehicles in a single day.

Each mission starts in an old, dilapidated garage and the mission I see is delivering water, ammunition and fuel to the drone pilots.

The supplies are loaded onto a ground drone called Termite, capable of carrying about 200 kg. The operator drives it by remote control to the back of the truck, bringing it closer to the front line to conserve its battery.

When darkness falls, two soldiers jump out of the truck and knock the unmanned vehicle over.

Someone informs the control room via radio that the drone has been unloaded.

Within seconds, an operator several kilometers away confirms that it is connected to the device and the Termit heads to its destination.

Some Ukrainian brigades have been using machines like the Termit since last year, but they have become increasingly popular in recent months.

At a 79th Brigade workshop, engineers who previously only built remote-controlled drones are now tasked with upgrading unmanned ground vehicles for use in combat zones.

They apply camouflage, solder new pads, and add hardware for more connectivity. But even with these improvements, unmanned ground vehicles are still vulnerable to drone attacks.

“No matter how well you hide it, no matter what connection you use and how fast you move,” the machine can still be discovered and destroyed, says the UGV operator with the call sign “Lawyer.”

During a mission to evacuate a wounded soldier from Pokrovsk, his drone hit a landmine, damaging its tracks.

Another drone was sent on a rescue mission from a different unit, but it was also destroyed. The lawyer still does not know whether the wounded soldier came out alive.

On average, only one in three unmanned vehicles can reach the city, says Ihor, of the 7th Corps’ Unmanned Systems Division.

While the majority of small robots won’t make it, troops on the front lines are counting on those that do.