VIDEO Russia has sent its robotic mini-tanks into attack for the first time. Then they were spotted by low-cost Ukrainian drones

The Russian army’s new robotic mini-tanks, armed with grenades, joined an assault last week on Ukrainian positions around the town of Berdychi, west of the ruins of Avdiivka, in eastern Ukraine, Forbes writes.

The test – the first ever deployment of an unmanned ground vehicle in a major mechanized attack – was a resounding success, a Russian propagandist assured.

But the indications show that the propagandist lied, writes Forbes. In fact, at least two of the five or six Russian unmanned vehicles were immobilized and then destroyed by Ukraine’s drones.

The unmanned ground vehicles – which appear to be around 1.5 meters long and are equipped with AGS-17 grenade launchers – went into action as part of the Russian military’s continued offensive west of Avdiivka, a month after it city ​​- a former Ukrainian stronghold – fell into Russian hands.

“As part of the combat mission, a group of unmanned vehicles participated in the support of assault operations, ensuring the suppression of enemy positions in the village with the help of installed AGS-17 modules, firing several hundred grenades,” wrote propagandist Boris Rojin.

“During combat use, unmanned vehicles have shown good results,” added Rojin. “They were able to operate even in conditions where the loss of personnel and expensive equipment due to enemy fire would have been unavoidable,” he added.

What Rojin failed to mention is that the Ukrainian army’s 47th Mechanized Brigade either jammed or damaged at least two of these mini-tanks – and then sent small drones to destroy them.

The fact that Russian unmanned vehicles are vulnerable to Ukrainian drones did not surprise Samuel Bendett, an expert with the American thin-tank CNA, who studies Russian military technology.

“Right now, anything that moves on the battlefield is seen and hit by a drone,” he told Forbes.

Kiev has empowered a network of hundreds of small workshops to build at least 50,000 two-kilogram drones each month. Ukrainian brigades equip each drone with a grenade or rocket warhead and send it toward Russian troops miles away.

Russian radio jamming devices are largely powerless in attempting to stop Ukrainian drones. Experts say that Kiev’s jamming devices are more capable and manage to block low-cost Russian drones more effectively, giving Ukraine a permanent advantage in this regard.

Russian propagandist Boris Rojin, notes Forbes, admitted that the mini-tanks that were hit during the assault near Berdychi still need improvement. He emphasized, however, that the current vehicles are test models.

“In the future,” he wrote, “such platforms will take their place on the battlefield.”

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