Ukrainian brigade pioneers remote-controlled ground assaults

KHARKIV REGION, January 17 ------ The boxy, machine gun-equipped vehicle lumbered across the snow-covered battlefield, with no crew aboard and marking what its remote Ukrainian operators described as a major milestone as Russian artillery fire rained around it. Sparing soldiers for the infantry assault that came later, the unmanned device was operated at a distance by Ukraine's Khartiia Brigade in the latest advance in a conflict that has been defined by a technology race on both sides. 

Khartiia released footage of last month's attack in the northeastern Kharkiv region, which combined assault and mine- laying and mine-clearing vehicles guided by drones hovering above. The unit said it was the first documented machine-only ground assault in Ukraine's war with Russia. The operation paved the way for a successful infantry advance, the brigade said. "Our task is to maximally transfer reconnaissance, clearing operations and assaults to machines that we can afford to lose," said unit spokesperson Volodymyr Dehtiarov. Units like Khartiia are embracing innovation, seeking to save lives as Russia's full-scale invasion nears its three-year mark. 

Ukrainian authorities say some 43,000 soldiers have been killed in the fighting since February 2022, but some Western officials have estimated the number may be higher. 

Source: reuters.com