Ukrainian troops are buying war robots from their digital marketplace in record numbers

Aug 11, 2026 06:48 PM - 1 hour ago 3

Servicemembers of the Unmanned Ground Systems portion of Ukraine's 14th Separate Mechanized Brigade 'Chervona Kalyna' hole crushed robotic vehicles for usage connected May 12, 2026, successful Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine.

Ukrainian soldiers are buying crushed robots online successful grounds numbers. Yevhen Titov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

Ukrainian troops are rushing to a integer weapons marketplace to bargain grounds numbers of ground robots, reflecting the surging fame of these combat machines connected the battlefield.

Brave1, the Ukrainian state-backed innovation platform, said connected Monday that the subject has ordered much than 3,000 crushed robots from its integer marketplace since it launched past year, including complete 640 units successful July alone.

That second fig represents a 680% summation complete 2025's monthly average, Brave1 said successful a statement.

Yuliia Myrna, merchandise head for the Brave1 Market integer site, said successful remarks shared pinch Business Insider that crushed robots and interceptor drones "are among the fastest-growing categories we are seeing successful 2026."

Ukraine launched the Brave1 Market successful April 2025, granting soldiers entree to an Amazon-style website to bargain subject technology, specified arsenic drones, robots, and physics warfare systems, from the defense industry, streamlining the procurement process.

In October 2025, uncrewed crushed vehicles became eligible for acquisition pinch "ePoints," which Ukrainian troops cod for verified kills of Russian soldiers aliases subject hardware, and the completion of different battlefield tasks.

A Ukrainian serviceman of the 65th Mechanized Brigade attends a section trial of the off-road capabilities of a crushed robot successful an undisclosed location successful the Zaporizhzhia region connected June 5, 2026.

Brave1 said the subject has ordered much than 3,000 crushed robots from its online market.  Genya SAVILOV/AFP via Getty Images

Various drone types, including first-person-view (FPV) quadcopters, interceptors, and heavy bombers, are among the astir celebrated items connected the Brave1 Market by quantity.

While crushed robots tin costs tens of thousands of dollars — typically making them acold much costly than these different drones — they service successful drastically different roles and person a longer operational lifecycle.

Myrna said Ukraine is "deliberately accelerating" the integration of crushed robots into combat operations, peculiarly for logistics and casualty evacuation.

"Military units now gain ePoints for successfully completing these missions pinch robotic systems, creating an inducement to switch unit successful high-risk tasks wherever possible," she said.

"This creates a powerful improvement cycle," Myrna added, explaining that "more battlefield usage generates much operational feedback for manufacturers, which leads to faster merchandise improvements and yet helps america move group distant from missions that tin beryllium performed by machines."

Only a fewer Ukrainian companies produced crushed robots astatine the commencement of Russia's full-scale invasion. Today, location are astir 280 firms that make hundreds of different products, Andrii Hrytseniuk, Brave1's CEO, told Business Insider.

Members of the Lava Unmanned Systems Regiment repair multi-purpose unmanned crushed vehicles (UGV) astatine a shop connected May 22, 2026, successful Kharkiv region, Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials person group retired to switch soldiers pinch robots successful vulnerable front-line roles.  Diego Fedele/Getty Images

The increasing fame of uncrewed crushed vehicles connected the Brave1 Market reflects Ukraine's broader push to replace soldiers pinch robots and drones successful vulnerable missions, peculiarly front-line proviso runs.

Ukrainian officials person said they want robots to grip 100% of battlefield logistics, missions that person go peculiarly deadly arsenic the "kill zone" — the drone-saturated area that surrounds the beforehand statement — continues to expand.

Ukrainian commanders told Business Insider that the robots let their units to execute captious tasks while keeping troops out of harm's way.

Grek, a UGV institution commandant pinch the 21st Unmanned Systems "Kraken" Regiment, who asked to only beryllium identified by his telephone sign, said that "the stakes of removing humans from vulnerable missions are significant."

"Every clip a personification is exposed to a high-risk environment, location is simply a anticipation of injury, nonaccomplishment of life, aliases reduced combat effectiveness," he said. "Protecting unit intends preserving experience, training, and activity that cannot easy beryllium replaced."

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