A Ukrainian drone unit has taken Russian prisoners-of-war in Kharkiv Oblast without a single shot, in what the 3rd Assault Brigade calls the first-ever battlefield capitulation to robotic platforms. The Russian position was taken without combat engagement of Ukrainian soldiers on the ground – the infantry just took the empty position after the Russians surrendered.

Ukrainian drone unit takes POWs in first battlefield capitulation to robots

On 9 July, Ukraine’s 3rd Separate Assault Brigade announced that its drone and ground robot operators forced Russian troops to surrender in Kharkiv Oblast — without any infantry engagement or Ukrainian losses.

According to the Brigade, the robotic strike involved both an FPV drone and a kamikaze ground drone carrying three antitank mines — a total of 21-22.5 kg of TNT. The FPV and the first ground drone’s blast hit a dugout entrance in the Russian position. As another land robot moved in for a second strike, two surviving Russian soldiers waved a cardboard sign reading “We want to surrender” in Russian.

“The explosion with the three antitank mines — that was a very powerful blast. The dugout wasn’t fully destroyed, so we got the order to hit it again. We moved in, and they realized we were going to blow it up again. […] ..and they very quickly put the sign out,” one of the Ukrainian soldiers said.

Drone footage shows moment of surrender and remote-led capture

The 3rd Assault Brigade’s Telegram post includes a video file timestamped 8 July, featuring aerial footage of the engagement and the enemy’s surrender, as well as a recorded interview with the Ukrainian drone operators recounting the operation. However, the exact date of the robotic engagement itself is not explicitly stated.

The video shows an aerial FPV drone strike, a powerful explosion of an “NRK”—a remotely controlled “ground robotic complex”—at the entrance to the dugout, and the Russian soldiers displaying the sign.

As recounted by the NC13 unit of the DEUS EX MACHINA drone company, a small reconnaissance UAV was used to guide the surrendering soldiers safely to Ukrainian lines.

“Then the major flew down the Mavic (a Chinese drone, widely used for reconnaissance by both sides, – Ed.), we showed them with the drone — like, come here. [..] They followed the Mavic precisely and lay down in the ‘dolphin pose’ on the ground,” the military said.

After the surrender, infantry forces quickly secured the position. The brigade noted that previous Ukrainian attempts to storm the area had failed. This time, however, the assault team held back while drones led the operation.

Robot tactics secure trench in 15 minutes without losses

Once the Russian troops were taken prisoner, the planned infantry clearing operation began — but was largely symbolic. The drone operator noted in the interview:

“A clearing operation was planned there — we were supposed to carry out the strike, and they were supposed to clear the area. But it turned out that… that unit took over the dugout’s treeline in just 15 minutes. The entire strip was already ours — literally, and without any losses. You could say, not a single shot was fired.”

According to him, the fully drone-led engagement showed that the use of robotic platforms “makes operations significantly easier” and, in some cases, “even frees the infantry from the task entirely”

“Our example proved that with robotic platforms, it’s possible not only to storm positions but also to take prisoners,” another drone operator emphasized.