Ukrainian soldiers inspect an unmanned ground vehicle. [Reuters-Yonhap]
Ukrainian soldiers inspect an unmanned ground vehicle. [Reuters-Yonhap]

Ukraine has recaptured large swaths of territory on the eastern Donbas front by deploying unmanned ground vehicles and drones en masse, CNBC reported Sunday (local time).

Security analysts say the operation demonstrates a new paradigm in modern warfare — one in which robots replace soldiers on the front line, minimizing casualties while achieving military objectives.

According to the report, Ukraine's Third Army Corps launched a major offensive in the Lyman area of northern Donetsk Oblast through "Operation Vivaldi," which began in May.

Ukrainian forces first secured air superiority over the Lyman area, restricting Russian drone operations. Ukrainian drones then dropped unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) behind Russian lines to strike enemy troops.

As a result, Ukrainian forces broke through Russian defensive lines and succeeded in retaking territory.

Ukrainian Brigadier General Andriy Biretsky said his forces recaptured an additional 51 square kilometers in the third phase of Operation Vivaldi, bringing the total recovered territory to 176 square kilometers. He added that recent fighting alone inflicted more than 2,000 casualties on Russian forces and netted roughly 250 prisoners of war.

Security experts caution that the operation does not represent a decisive turning point on the front line, but stress that it has dealt a significant blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin's ambitions to seize the Donbas.

Patrick Bolder, a defense analyst at the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies, said Ukrainian forces first secured the skies over the Lyman region through months of careful disruption and air operations, then deployed ground robots behind Russian lines to strike the enemy without any troop losses. "It has inflicted serious damage on Putin's ability to achieve his war aims," he said.

Serhiy Kuzan, director of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center, a Kyiv-based think tank close to the Ukrainian government, said remote-controlled platforms are now being used for missions that once required dozens or even hundreds of soldiers. "Operation Vivaldi allowed us to complete missions with minimal human casualties by replacing personnel with robots," he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also wrote on social media recently that replacing troops with ground robotic systems "wherever possible is a very promising direction," pledging to significantly expand support so that drones and robots — not people — carry out the most dangerous missions.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian intelligence says Russian leadership had originally aimed to occupy all of Donetsk Oblast by the end of this year, but pushed that deadline back to March next year after suffering devastating losses — accounting for 70 to 80 percent of total casualties — in key areas of the region.


husn7@heraldcorp.com