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Robots Are Fighting Robots in Russia's War in Ukraine

Aerial drones have changed the war in Ukraine. Now, both Russia's and Ukraine's militaries are deploying more unmanned ground robots—and the two are colliding.

“There’s lots of unmanned ground vehicle development happening,” says Samuel Bendett, a Russia analyst at the think tank Center for Naval Analyses, who tracks military drone and robotics technology use. Videos from within Ukraine, first shared on Telegram channels and reviewed by analysts such as Bendett, show a Russian drone monitoring a Ukrainian UGV as it trundles along laying mines. Ukraine has already had success with naval drones, Kallenborn says, adding that UGVs allow soldiers to undertake other tasks and reduce some of the risk for humans on the ground, such as a robot sent on scouting missions.

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