Your browser does not support the video element. Your browser does not support the video element. A robot army is transforming the Ukrainian front lines. Human soldiers who once risked life and limb in the kill zone are being replaced by uncrewed ground vehicles that haul ammunition, deliver food, carry weapons, and evacuate wounded troops. The machines are doing more than keeping soldiers out of harm's way . They're also changing their jobs. Soldiers who once delivered supplies to the front , or fired weapons from exposed positions, are now operating robots remotely. They're modifying machines in workshops and planning missions from behind computer screens. Several Ukrainian service members, some identified only by their call signs for security reasons, shared their wartime experiences with Business Insider. Traditional infantrymen remain essential, they said, but the war is increasingly robotic . "Infantrymen were always in short supply in the army before, because it was the hardest job," said Dozer, a UGV regiment commander in the Svoboda Battalion of Ukraine's Rubizh Brigade, identified by his call sign. "Now, thanks to robots, the need for infantrymen has decreased." Business Insider was on the ground in Ukraine earlier this year, exploring the impact that these robots are having on modern warfare. This account is part of our Robonomics series on the rise of robots and their impact on business, jobs, and everyday life. We've unpacked the investment boom in robotics and have gone inside Amazon's robot-powered warehouse to see if machines were taking human jobs. Now we're looking at the battlefield. The growing use of ground robots is changing the work of Ukrainian soldiers, shifting some of the physical demands of front-line missions to the preparation, operation, engineering, and maintenance of machines. Soldiers can spend days getting a robot ready for war. In specialized workshops, they might take a general-purpose UGV straight from the manufacturer and modify it for whatever mission it needs to execute, adding anti-shrapnel armor, communications equipment, or other gear. And the engineering is only part of the job. Before sending a robot into the field, soldiers study aerial reconnaissance, map primary and alternate routes, and choose when to send the machine forward based on reported activity in the sector. These plans are then adapted as the missions unfold. Kyiv's defense ministry said in early September that the number of logistics and evacuation missions undertaken by robots has grown steadily month over month in 2026, from roughly 7,500 in January to 25,000 in August. That expanding workload is placing new demands on the soldiers responsible for keeping the machines running. Dozer said that programming skills and engineering have become increasingly important. He said soldiers now spend a lot of time on computers, designing modifications to stay ahead of Russian engineers, who are developing countermeasures of their own. Add BI in Google so our reporting is easier to find when you’re searching for what matters. "There is much more work that requires thinking, not working with physical strength," he said. The shift is a striking contrast to the traditional physical demands of infantry work, like carrying heavy equipment and digging trenches . During missions, operators receive guidance from combatant commands as they sift through real-time intelligence and data. In the aftermath, soldiers sometimes spend hours or days repairing the robots, with the workload depending heavily on whether they suffered a mechanical failure or were damaged in combat. Ukrainian soldiers have said that in some areas of the front, robots may only survive a few missions. Some get stuck, some lose their connections, and others are destroyed, creating constant demand. Hundreds of local Ukrainian defense firms, including Ratel Robotics and TAF Industries, are manufacturing UGVs and components. When Business Insider visited one of Ratel's fac
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