A Ukrainian unmanned robot has been filmed engaging a Russian soldier in a close combat gunfight on the frontline in new dramatic footage.
Ukraine has been a terrifying testing ground of ultra-modern warfare with prolific use of bomb dropping drones and now this unmanned ground vehicle has come as the latest development.
The video, posted on X, shows the vehicle trundling into battle along a track among a collection of ruined farmhouses at night.
The onboard camera twitches left and right and, in the foreground, the barrel of a Browning M2 machine gun scans across the battlefield with precise movement, Noel Reports said.
A lone Russian soldier hides in between the buildings. Above him, a drone using an infrared camera reveals his position as he frantically searches for cover. He is a white silhouette in the black camera feed.
The drone appears to be feeding information to the operator of the gun-wielding robot. Revealing exactly where he is.
The vehicle stops with a clear firing line to the Russian, waiting for a moment.
The aerial drone’s camera feed captures several flashes erupting from the barrel of the machine gun.
The aerial drone targets the lone Russian soldier, while the gun-wielding ground robot lines up a shot (the black shape with wheels seen on the right of the frame)
The unmanned robot fires a the Russian soldier and appears to hit him twice
Cutting back to the view of the ground vehicle, four shots appear to be fired in four white flashes.
The drone watches the assault and the soldier looks to be hit twice in the rain of bullets, staggering at the first impact and then crumpling to the ground on the second – white spray is captured coming out of his back on each hit on he infrared camera.
Returning to the ground view a bright flash is seen where the soldier once stood in what looks like a sudden small explosion.
The footage is attributed to the 411th Separate UAV Battalion The Hawks.
The third round of talks aiming to end the war in Ukraine have begun in Geneva, Switzerland, today.
However, hours before they began, Putin launched a massive attack across Ukraine of more than 400 drones and missiles overnight. 396 drones and 29 missiles rained down in the early hours of this morning, The Independent reported.
Russia claimed responsibility for the attacks which targeted military-industrial and energy targets. This has increased the strain on Ukraine’s already battered infrastructure amid the coldest winter in nearly 20 years.
It has left over a million Ukrainians with severe shortages of electricity, heating, and water in the freezing temperatures, the European Commission said. Today in Kyiv it will reach -12C.
The drone watches the machine open fire on the soldier below
It records the white silhouetted figure stagger and then crumple to the ground under fire
At the talks, President Donald Trump is putting pressure on Ukrainians to come to a deal with Russia, saying that Zelensky had ‘better come to the table fast’ in the peace talks.
This echoes his calls last week on the Ukrainian president, saying he needed to move his position as he believes Putin wants peace.
The Russian dictator has previously said in November 2025 that he would only agree to a ceasefire if Ukraine relinquishes its territory that is claimed by Moscow and they give up any plans to join NATO.
This includes the areas currently occupied by Russian forces, about 20 per cent of the country as well as areas which are not presently under Russian control like the parts of the Donbas region.
Russia only partially controls this area but demands full legal recognition of its ownership of the rest. Kyiv previously ruled out giving up parts of the Donbas it still holds, saying that rewarding Russia’s aggression is a non-starter.
