Ukraine’s new strategy seems to stem from a severe lack of manpower (Image: Getty)
Ukraine has turned to a new arsenal of cutting-edge technology to sustain its ongoing conflict with Russia, as robots, drones and remotely operated tanks provide the embattled nation with a significant boost on the battlefield.
Facing months of mounting manpower shortages and wavering support from the United States, Ukraine has increasingly relied upon technology as its greatest asset in the fight against Russian forces.
In April, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the first ever capture of a Russian position achieved entirely by robots and drones, with one military unit revealing through prisoner interrogations that enemy troops have come to call these machines “silent death”.
Since January, the Ukrainian leader has stated that unmanned vehicles have been responsible for carrying out 22,000 missions.
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CNN reports that across 164 assault missions, the NC13 unit of Ukraine’s Third Assault Brigade calculated they would have required 2,300 troops to match the effectiveness of their robotic attackers.
Under conventional circumstances, they would have anticipated losing roughly half their unit to casualties — either killed or wounded — meaning the unmanned machinery is not merely aiding the war effort, but quite literally preserving lives.
The unit’s deputy commander, Bar, told CNN: “I couldn’t even imagine such a thing, back then. But I realise if such equipment had been available at the time… more of my comrades would have survived.”
Robots have been taking over the Ukraine war (Image: NC)
For Mykola ‘Makar’ Zinkevych, NC13’s commander, the wider world is simply failing to keep pace with the rapid technological advances reshaping modern warfare.
“Back then, war was somehow more, shall we say, masculine. It was your skills that mattered there – how well you’d trained, how disciplined you were and so on. Now, technology decides everything. There is no going back,” Zinkevych said.
Ukraine’s fresh strategy appears to have emerged from a critical manpower shortage. Already possessing a modest population, the nation has endured a catastrophic death toll since hostilities commenced four years ago.
Zelensky claims unmanned machinery has conducted 22,000 missions (Image: Getty)
The country’s objective is now to kill or injure 35,000 Russians per month, a target they have succeeded in reaching this year.
An assessment from the UK intelligence agency GCHQ released on Wednesday placed Russian fatalities at 500,000 – citing fresh intelligence.
The figures were disclosed by GCHQ director Anne Keast-Butler as she cautioned the world stands at a “moment of consequence” with Russia “relentlessly targeting” vital infrastructure.