Ukraine’s front-line units are increasingly using small unmanned ground robots to carry explosives toward Russian positions. In workshops near the fighting in northeastern Ukraine, military mechanics prepare and maintain vehicles described as four-wheeled platforms, including models referred to by callsigns such as “Hyenas.” One mechanic, identified only as “Chimera,” describes lining up the vehicles before they move toward enemy lines.
According to reporting from different outlets, these robots are used to attack targets such as an enemy dugout or to stop an advance. The accounts describe the vehicles as carrying a payload on the order of about 20 kilograms of explosives. The South China Morning Post also includes a claim from the mechanic that similar models have been used to capture or hold Russian prisoners, while the Japan Times piece focuses more broadly on how these systems fit into what it calls a shift in battlefield tactics.
Overall, both sources depict a tight, hands-on process for getting robot units ready for combat, while differing in emphasis—one highlighting the “machines fighting for men,” and the other framing the development as part of a broader warfare “revolution.”
