Uncrewed ground vehicles (UGVs), or ground robot systems as they are known in Ukrainian military parlance, have already proven their worth.
There have been reports of UGVs successfully repelling Russian attacks and even taking enemy soldiers prisoner.
[...]
"They open fire on a battlefield where an infantryman would be afraid to turn up. But a UGV is happy to risk its existence," Maj Afanasiev says.
His battalion has also been using explosive-laden, battery-powered kamikaze UGVs to blow up enemy positions and hideouts.
Unlike aerial drones that buzz overhead, they make no sound to warn the enemy of an impending strike.
[...]
Afghan admits there are limits to the killer robots' autonomy on the battlefield, and says many of them are self-imposed, because of ethics and international humanitarian law.
"Modern UGVs are part-autonomous. They can move on their own, they can observe and detect the enemy. But still, the decision to open fire is made by a human, their operator," Afghan says.
"Robots can misidentify the wrong person or attack a civilian. That's why the final decision must be made by an operator."
[...]
Ukraine's lethal UGVs can be armed with grenade launchers as well as machine guns, and can also be deployed to plant landmines or barbed wire.
[...]
Necessity is a key factor driving innovation in this field. Drones in the air have made it infinitely more dangerous for humans to be present on the battleground, expanding Ukraine's so-called "kill zone" to 20-25km (12-15 miles) from the line of contact.
[...]
The Ukrainian army has been facing severe manpower shortages, and recruiting new soldiers behind fallen ones is proving increasingly more difficult.
Russia has also been developing combat UGVs, such as the Kuryer. According to Russian media reports, it can be equipped with a flame-thrower, a heavy machine gun normally found on tanks, and it can run autonomously for five hours.
[...]
Clashes between Russian and Ukrainian killer robots on the battlefields of Ukraine are a matter of time given their increasing numbers and capabilities, says Yuriy Poritsky, CEO of Ukrainian UGV manufacturer Devdroid which produced hundreds of "strike droids" for the military last year.
[...]
Another Ukrainian manufacturer of UGVs, Tencore, produced more than 2,000 UGVs for the Ukrainian army in 2025.
Its director, Maksym Vasylchenko, expects demand to jump to around 40,000 units in 2026, at least 10-15% of them armed with weapons.
The war in Ukraine can only be resolved through dialogue and finding ideological overlap. The theory of the case that, through innovation and determination, we could trigger political collapse...
The war in Ukraine can only be resolved through dialogue and finding ideological overlap. The theory of the case that, through innovation and determination, we could trigger political collapse within Russia has proven not only false, but to be in the opposite direction of the truth. One of the things that scares me the most about the Russia-Ukraine war is how much it's accelerated the development of advanced military technology. When we start seeing long range micro-drones that can target individual people for assassination, humanity will be screwed.
Russia invaded Ukraine. The only result that I think is acceptable is expelling Russia from their seized territory. What kind of ideological overlap and dialogue do you suppose could effect that...
Russia invaded Ukraine. The only result that I think is acceptable is expelling Russia from their seized territory. What kind of ideological overlap and dialogue do you suppose could effect that result?
I think the real solution is Europe switching gears to a war economy and providing arms on a truly massive scale. The kind you can only provide with total commitment of the entirety of Europe’s economy being focused on defeating Russia.
Russia declared a change in their nuclear policy that they'd deploy nukes if the Russian state was under threat. It's also naive to think that Russia won't probably find someone more hardline to...
Russia declared a change in their nuclear policy that they'd deploy nukes if the Russian state was under threat. It's also naive to think that Russia won't probably find someone more hardline to replace Putin when he's gone. Relatively speaking, Putin unfortunately is a moderate.
We can talk all day about principles and good triumphing over evil, but that's not going to end or win a war. I think there is some hope to be had because humans are hardwired to empathize to some degree with those they interact with. Dialogue is necessary and will bear fruit even in a situation that's on paper intractable.
This is a circle we need to square. There is no option.
What common ground though? Russian leadership doesn't seem to care about wasting the lives of its people, is asking for more land than it currently holds in exchange for peace, and had clear...
The war in Ukraine can only be resolved through dialogue and finding ideological overlap.
What common ground though? Russian leadership doesn't seem to care about wasting the lives of its people, is asking for more land than it currently holds in exchange for peace, and had clear expansionist goals beyond ukraine from the start (remember that poster showing a planned invasion of maldova?).
Russia also signs cease fires and then launches missle strikes the same day. How could anyone take any peace agreement with them seriously?
IMO this goes beyond finding ideological overlap, common ground, compromise... whatever. Those in Russia that are perpetuating this war are evil people who are trying to take back what they has during the USSR. There isn't ideological overlap, what we are waiting for is either for one side to decide that continued fighting is worse than the proposed terms of surrender or for one side to run out of money or the ability to fight. Thats brutal and awful and will cause so much more suffering and death, but it's the reality.
The theory of the case that, through innovation and determination, we could trigger political collapse within Russia has proven not only false, but to be in the opposite direction of the truth.
That was the dream but I think reality is that they will eventually face an economic collapse and if that happens then a political collapse will likely follow.
One of the things that scares me the most about the Russia-Ukraine war is how much it's accelerated the development of advanced military technology. When we start seeing long range micro-drones that can target individual people for assassination, humanity will be screwed.
We're basically already there in terms of micro-drones except for the long range part. How much explosives does it really take to kill someone? Not much if Israel squeezed that amount into working pagers. People will always find new ways to kill eachother and Ukraine is probably only the tip of the unmanned iceberg.
I'm pessimistic that Russia will collapse economically. They're now in a much stronger alliance with China, have access to enormous natural resources, and will probably be a golden location for...
I'm pessimistic that Russia will collapse economically. They're now in a much stronger alliance with China, have access to enormous natural resources, and will probably be a golden location for climate refugees in the future. I'd so imagine much of Middle East and Africa to shift ties to Russia, given how the US has behaved on the world stage.
Russia still claims the same maximalist gains they've held onto since day one. There is no dialogue possible with a country that negotiates from irrationality as a matter of policy.
Russia still claims the same maximalist gains they've held onto since day one. There is no dialogue possible with a country that negotiates from irrationality as a matter of policy.
I think that means it's not going to be resolved any time soon? I'm not sure the war would end even if Putin died. I assume the Ukrainians would try that if they could, though.
I think that means it's not going to be resolved any time soon? I'm not sure the war would end even if Putin died. I assume the Ukrainians would try that if they could, though.
https://archive.is/PbZS6
From the article:
[...]
[...]
[...]
[...]
[...]
[...]
[...]
The war in Ukraine can only be resolved through dialogue and finding ideological overlap. The theory of the case that, through innovation and determination, we could trigger political collapse within Russia has proven not only false, but to be in the opposite direction of the truth. One of the things that scares me the most about the Russia-Ukraine war is how much it's accelerated the development of advanced military technology. When we start seeing long range micro-drones that can target individual people for assassination, humanity will be screwed.
Russia invaded Ukraine. The only result that I think is acceptable is expelling Russia from their seized territory. What kind of ideological overlap and dialogue do you suppose could effect that result?
I think the real solution is Europe switching gears to a war economy and providing arms on a truly massive scale. The kind you can only provide with total commitment of the entirety of Europe’s economy being focused on defeating Russia.
Russia declared a change in their nuclear policy that they'd deploy nukes if the Russian state was under threat. It's also naive to think that Russia won't probably find someone more hardline to replace Putin when he's gone. Relatively speaking, Putin unfortunately is a moderate.
We can talk all day about principles and good triumphing over evil, but that's not going to end or win a war. I think there is some hope to be had because humans are hardwired to empathize to some degree with those they interact with. Dialogue is necessary and will bear fruit even in a situation that's on paper intractable.
This is a circle we need to square. There is no option.
What common ground though? Russian leadership doesn't seem to care about wasting the lives of its people, is asking for more land than it currently holds in exchange for peace, and had clear expansionist goals beyond ukraine from the start (remember that poster showing a planned invasion of maldova?).
Russia also signs cease fires and then launches missle strikes the same day. How could anyone take any peace agreement with them seriously?
IMO this goes beyond finding ideological overlap, common ground, compromise... whatever. Those in Russia that are perpetuating this war are evil people who are trying to take back what they has during the USSR. There isn't ideological overlap, what we are waiting for is either for one side to decide that continued fighting is worse than the proposed terms of surrender or for one side to run out of money or the ability to fight. Thats brutal and awful and will cause so much more suffering and death, but it's the reality.
That was the dream but I think reality is that they will eventually face an economic collapse and if that happens then a political collapse will likely follow.
We're basically already there in terms of micro-drones except for the long range part. How much explosives does it really take to kill someone? Not much if Israel squeezed that amount into working pagers. People will always find new ways to kill eachother and Ukraine is probably only the tip of the unmanned iceberg.
I'm pessimistic that Russia will collapse economically. They're now in a much stronger alliance with China, have access to enormous natural resources, and will probably be a golden location for climate refugees in the future. I'd so imagine much of Middle East and Africa to shift ties to Russia, given how the US has behaved on the world stage.
We already have those. There's nothing that keeps a drone with a grenade from flying up to anyone.
Russia still claims the same maximalist gains they've held onto since day one. There is no dialogue possible with a country that negotiates from irrationality as a matter of policy.
I think that means it's not going to be resolved any time soon? I'm not sure the war would end even if Putin died. I assume the Ukrainians would try that if they could, though.