A Ukrainian unmanned ground vehicle dubbed the Droid TW-7.62 captured three Russian soldiers after an assault conducted exclusively by unmanned systems, according to footage and a statement released by the ground robot manufacturer DevDroid on January 27.
The released footage shows the Russian soldiers in white winter camouflage approaching the machine gun-mounted robot one by one with hands raised after emerging from a badly damaged building.
One of the soldiers was notably covered in what appears to be blood. All three soldiers approached the platform before removing their equipment and lying face down. One Russian soldier can also be seen nervously looking up toward the sky after surrendering, seemingly watching for an aerial drone overhead.
☝️ “НОВА РЕАЛЬНІСТЬ ВІЙНИ”
🤖🇺🇦 Український наземний роботизований комплекс взяв у полон трьох окупантів
Подробиці: https://t.co/8G9hhIaQba
🎞: DevDroid/youtube pic.twitter.com/mdnLFGvdyc
— OBOZ.UA (@obozrevatel_ua) January 29, 2026
The UGV manufacturer noted in the accompanying statement on Youtube that no Ukrainian soldiers were at risk during the operation. “This is what modern war looks like. Robots are on the front lines. People are safe.” the statement read.
According to sources cited by United24 Media, the operation was conducted by the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade in the Lyman direction.
The Droid TW-7.62 is classified as a reconnaissance-strike unmanned robotic complex built on the NUMO platform, a modular, track-based UGV developed by Tank Bureau. The platform is approximately the size of a washing machine and was designed for a wide range of use cases including logistics, casualty evacuation, and combat.
The DevDroid robot features a mounted KT-7.62 (PKT) machine gun, an integrated ballistic computer designed to improve accuracy and firing efficiency, and artificial intelligence elements that enable autonomous target detection, acquisition, and tracking in real time. These capabilities allow the robot to operate under remote supervision while handling tasks that would otherwise expose infantry to direct fire.
DevDroid also produces the Droid TW-12.7, which utilizes a 12.7mm Browning machine gun, which SOFX has previously shared.
The Ministry of Defense has codified and approved for operation the Ukrainian robotic combat complex on a tracked platform equipped with a Browning 12.7 mm machine gun – the Droid TW 12.7.https://t.co/hakMtfwd65 pic.twitter.com/bOBKVP9SI7
— WarTranslated (@wartranslated) December 9, 2024
The soldiers’ capture continues an operational pattern that began in July 2025, when the same 3rd Separate Assault Brigade first took Russian prisoners using only unmanned systems. That operation in Kharkiv Oblast combined first-person view drones with ground robots to destroy bunkers before forcing survivors to surrender.
“For the first time in history: Russian soldiers surrendered to the 3rd Assault Brigade’s ground drones,” the brigade stated at the time.
This January, Ukraine’s Security Service Special Operations Center “A” also used the larger Droid TW-12.7 to evacuate a captured Russian soldier to Ukrainian territory, Militarnyi reported.
Footage released by the unit showed the tracked platform moving supplies under fire and engaging Russian troops before transporting the prisoner.
SOFX also previously reported that the same type of UGV was used in an attempted ambush of a Russian MT-LB armored vehicle at point-blank range by the 5th Separate Assault Brigade.
The Rise of UGV’s on the Battlefield
Though aerial drone videos involving FPV drones and larger hexacopter systems have received significant attention for rapid development and widespread utilization, Ukrainian engineers have also been advancing ground systems on the battlefield.
A recent report by the Jamestown Foundation titled “Ukraine Becomes World Leader in Unmanned Ground Vehicles” found that ground systems are increasingly replacing infantry soldiers in high-risk missions and within frontline “kill zones,” stretches of land saturated with explosives and aerial drones.
As of April 2025, 55 Ukrainian UGVs had been codified to NATO standards, according to an expert at the Ukrainian government-backed defense company Brave1 cited by the Jamestown Foundation.
The report also noted that UGV systems are also being deployed widely outside of direct fire missions, with heavy use in logistics, medevac, and mine-laying operations. SOFX has previously documented and reported on multiple such operations, including the use of the Ardal Unmanned Ground Vehicle to evacuate wounded personnel from the front lines.
DevDroid called it “the new reality of war.” As unmanned ground systems continue to spread across the front lines, that reality is arriving faster than most could have imagined.
