Sending ROBOTS Where People Wouldn’t Dare to Go | ENG.SUB (video)

11/02/2026

«Back in 2023, how could I explain to people that I was going to pick up a ground drone that would then go out to evacuate people?»

On November 1, 2025, Alter Ego became a battalion. But its commander, call sign “Elektrik”, has good reason to look back to 2023. First came Bakhmut, where the experience showed that we could no longer afford to fight the way we had before – «because we would eventually run out of people». Then came the Serebrianskyi Forest, where the platoon sent its first ground robotic system to retrieve a wounded soldier from deep inside enemy-held territory.

At the time, it was the unit’s only vehicle of its kind. When the russians destroyed it, there was nothing left to send on another evacuation mission. But that experience became the impetus for urgently developing these robots without wasting any more precious time.

«We gave it a try. We came close. We drew conclusions about the equipment and the tactics, recorded a video, and showed it to the manufacturer. The manufacturer actually developed a new system very soon after that. We gained incredible experience in evacuating a wounded soldier in 2023, and that’s when it all began» – Elektrik recalls.

The soldiers stepped up their efforts to find solutions, work with manufacturers, test and improve the equipment, and try again and again until the GRS could do what was needed, where it was needed. The platoon grew into a company and, a year ago, into a battalion – turning what some once dismissed as “children’s toys” into reliable, integral support for soldiers, an “Alter Ego” for every fighter.

Today, Alter Ego’s ground robots deliver ammunition and supplies to positions, evacuate the wounded and the fallen, and carry out combat missions. Just a few months ago, we were saying that these robots could go where no other vehicle could drive and where infantry could not move without risking their lives. But in late summer, the unit carried out two unique combined logistics missions for the first time: air-to-ground and water-to-ground. The GRS were modified and adapted for these missions, opening up access to places that ground robots could not reach by conventional means.

«It can do everything: fly, swim, shoot, blow things up – but it can’t dig» – Elektrik jokes. Then he turns serious, adding that the capabilities of ground robotic systems are still far from reaching their full potential.

The people who were among the first to develop ground robotics in the military, the solutions they came up with right on the front line, and a war in which a “Terminator” is sent to carry out the most dangerous missions instead of a person – all this is featured in our film marking the anniversary of the Alter Ego Battalion within the 93rd Kholodnyi Yar Brigade.

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Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:17 The potential of ground robotic systems remains untapped
01:46 Elektrik on how his journey began
03:19 “Something has to change, because otherwise we’ll run out of people”
05:42 The first evacuation attempt in 2023
08:51 Scaling up GRS missions: strike drones
14:50 “I signed up for an incredible mission that no one had ever managed to carry out before”
17:26 Alter Ego joins the 93rd Kholodnyi Yar Brigade
19:03 The first successful evacuation of a wounded soldier
23:23 “Conventional logistics came to an end”: how fiber-optic drones changed the way things are done
25:27 Operation “Sailors on Zebras”
27:03 The destruction of the Vovchansk plant – transporting half a ton across the river
29:16 Hruzkе-Vesele
30:05 The evolution of ground robots in the battalion: “Amphibia” and “Airborne”
32:50 Alter Ego’s chief engineer: “We’re simply the ones who GET THE JOB DONE”