Ukrainian forces successfully attacked Russian positions using only ground and first person view (FPV) drones instead of infantry, an army spokesperson claimed on Dec. 20.
Speaking on national TV, Sergeant Volodymyr Dehtiarov, spokesperson for the Khartiia Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine, said “dozens of units of robotic and unmanned equipment” supported by surveillance drones were used in the assault near the village of Lyptsi, north of Kharkiv.
Dehtiarov said the drones included ground systems equipped with machine guns, and kamikaze FPV drones.
He did not specify when the attack took place.
Commenting on the reports, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said the attack highlighted the difference in attitude towards front line troops shown by Moscow and Kyiv.
"Ukrainian officials have repeatedly highlighted Ukraine's efforts to utilise technological innovations and asymmetric strike capabilities to offset Ukraine's manpower limitations in contrast with Russia's willingness to accept unsustainable casualty rates for marginal territorial gains," the ISW said.
Russian military losses in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine have exceeded 750,000 Russian soldiers, and are expected to surpass 1 million Russian troops within six months, U.K. Under-Secretary of Defense Luke Pollard said on Dec. 19.
The U.K.'s latest estimate is in line with figures from Ukraine's General Staff, which, as of Dec. 19, sits at 768,220 troops lost since the start of the war. The figures do not specify killed or wounded, though the overall consensus is that it includes dead, wounded, missing, and captured.
"It is highly likely that they have sustained significant combat casualties, whilst only achieving limited tactical gains," Pollard told British parliamentarians on Dec. 19.
Russia has gained ground in eastern Ukraine and Kursk Oblast in recent months but at the cost of heavy casualties.
Russian losses reached record highs in November and December, with a daily high of 2,030 troops lost in November, marking the highest daily loss since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. Russian losses exceeded 45,000 troops and $3 billion worth of equipment in November.
President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed in a rare statement that Ukraine had lost 43,000 soldiers on the battlefield since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.
Ukraine is developing numerous new types of drone systems.
Military tech developers created a new unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) with the ability to carry explosives and drive under armored vehicles, the project's spokesperson, Viktoriia Kovalchuk, told Business Insider on Oct. 25.
The UGV, named Ratel S or Honey Badger, was developed as part of the Brave1 government initiative.
The initiative was launched in April to invest in defense tech innovations that can be utilized by the Ukrainian military, as well as serve as a platform to connect the industry's stakeholders.
"The main idea is that the robot (Ratel S) is used as a mobile warhead that carries anti-tank mines or other explosive devices," said Kovalchuk, adding that it can run for 40–50 minutes at an average speed or for up to two hours at a slower speed.
Katie Marie Davies
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