Ukrainian startups creating army of robots to repel Russia - media

That’s according to AP, Ukrinform reports.

“Struggling with manpower shortages, overwhelming odds and uneven international assistance, Ukraine hopes to find a strategic edge against Russia in an abandoned warehouse or a factory basement. An ecosystem of laboratories in hundreds of secret workshops is leveraging innovation to create a robot army that Ukraine hopes will kill Russian troops and save its own wounded soldiers and civilians," reads the article. 

The publication notes that there are about 250 defense startups across Ukraine, creating the "killing machines" in secret locations that typically look like rural car repair shops.

As an example, they cite the startup UkrPrototyp led by entrepreneur Andrii Denysenko, that can assemble an unmanned ground vehicle call the Odyssey in just four days.

"Its most important feature is the price tag: $35,000, or roughly 10% of the cost of an imported model," the article emphasizes.

According to Denysenko, the startup’s main motivation and goal is to save human lives. The prototype acts as a rescue-and-supply platform but can be modified to carry a remotely operated heavy machine gun or sling mine-clearing charges.

The article also notes concerns at the level of international organizations that the use of drones and artificial intelligence in weapons could reduce the barrier to killing and dramatically escalate conflicts.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, CEO of the Turkish company ASELSAN Ahmet Akyol said Ukraine’s Armed Forces destroyed more Russian tanks by using FPV drones than by launching anti-tank missiles.