In northern Donetsk, Ukraine’s Third Army Corps has been using a network of aerial and ground drones to deploy and clear minefields while attacking Russian lines.
These missions are part of its recent high-profile offensive, Operation Vivaldi, which it’s said has seized about 50 square miles around the city of Lyman so far.
The corps has said that ground drones, capable of carrying heavy payloads and operating in more dangerous areas, are dramatically cutting the time for mine-laying. A single drone can deploy a minefield over 1,300 feet deep in two days, while a human crew would have taken two weeks.
A commander of the corps’ 96th Support Battalion, Serhii Tischenko, told Business Insider how the operation works, including how troops prefer to split sapper and attack operations by time of day.
“It is definitely better to mine at night, because the enemy cannot see our UGVs,” said Tischenko, whose battalion supports the 125th Separate Heavy Mechanized Brigade and the 60th Mechanized Brigade.
Ground drones, or uncrewed ground vehicles, are most commonly tracked or wheeled platforms, designed to carry up to 400 kg, or about 880 pounds.
They’re quiet on the battlefield, Tischenko said, so it’s common for the Third Army Corps to clear mines at night, then launch assaults in the day.
“It is more practical to carry out assault operations during the day because the enemy uses a lot of FPV drones, and during daylight we can detect them more easily,” he added.
Ground drones play a critical role here, Tischenko said, because an assault soldier seeing one ahead of them provides clarity and confidence that the path is clear.
“They can keep moving forward without constantly worrying about being seriously injured by a mine. This is extremely important during an assault,” Tischenko said.
The 96th also uses drones for mining operations, he said, which primarily help slow Russian advances and give the Ukrainians time to respond.
Aside from ground drones, Tischenko said his unit has also been deploying heavy aerial bombers — typically hexacopters that can carry up to 40 kg — to lay dozens of mines at a time.
“A single heavy bomber can drop up to 40 anti-personnel mines over a specific area,” Tischenko said.
A typical night could see a heavy bomber crew running five sorties at distances of up to 10 km, or just over six miles, the commander added. On average, a mining crew in his battalion could conduct about 130 sorties a month, he said.
Smaller aerial drones can also drop explosive charges to clear Russian minefields, Tischenko said.
“And this produced significant results. We disrupted and demoralized the enemy and their assault groups,” said Tischenko, who added that his unit conducted mining missions along about 18 miles of the front lines during Operation Vivaldi.
Ukraine has spent the last year and a half heavily promoting the use of uncrewed ground vehicles, which its officials often call “robots,” as a way to minimize human exposure to the most dangerous frontline roles.
Unlike soldiers, ground drones don’t tire or lose concentration, making them perfect for meticulous sapping work, Tischenko added.
More importantly, they can be repaired when damaged or destroyed, he said.
“A human life, once lost, cannot be restored. We would rather spend money on UGVs than risk the lives of our soldiers,” said the commander.
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