Ukraine's war robots keep soldiers out of danger, but humans still risk their lives to keep them running

Ukraine's ground robots are designed to replace humans in the most dangerous parts of the battlefield, but humans still need to be in some risky areas to keep them running. Dmytro Smolienko/ Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Ukraine is using a growing fleet of war robots to take dangerous roles away from humans, but soldiers sometimes still need to risk their lives to keep the machines running.

Ukraine wants to replace as many human soldiers in dangerous missions and roles as possible with robots and drones, and the technology has advanced enough that operators can now control some war robots from tens of kilometers away, according to Ukrainian brigades.

That can keep operators away from Russian fire, but while the robots, known as uncrewed ground vehicles, or UGVs, can replace soldiers on dangerous missions, other troops may still need to venture closer to the fighting to prepare, launch,…