Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's former defence minister and the architect of its drone-war strategy, has launched Army of Robots, a defence-technology initiative that aims to put humanoid and ground robots on the frontline in place of soldiers. Unveiled on September 26 at the IT Arena 2026 conference in Lviv, the project sets deliberately provocative deadlines: a humanoid robot in combat within six months, and a fully robotic assault within a year.
The launch is Fedorov's most prominent move since he was dismissed as defence minister by President Volodymyr Zelensky in July, and it positions military robotics as the next chapter after Ukraine's mass mobilisation of drone makers.
What Army of Robots Promises
The initiative debuted with a one-minute video and a website opening with the line that it exists to replace people with robots on the battlefield and save lives. According to reports from the launch, it sets out two headline objectives:
- Within six months — a humanoid robot carrying out a lethal combat action against Russian forces
- Within 12 months — the first operation run by robots and drones coordinating through algorithms, described by several outlets as an assault on an enemy position with no infantry involved
Fedorov was careful to frame the first humanoid jobs as simple ones. He said early robots would handle tasks such as reloading a machine gun, swapping a battery or installing a sensor — dangerous, repetitive work that currently exposes soldiers to fire.
An Ecosystem, Not a Company
Army of Robots is not a single manufacturer. Fedorov described it as an ecosystem that will invest in Ukrainian defence-tech and robotics start-ups, run its own technology projects, build research and development capacity, test systems with military units and scale whatever proves effective in combat.
A large private technology company will develop the ecosystem, though its name has not yet been disclosed. The project's website is actively recruiting robotics companies, engineers and a chief technology officer, and is inviting venture funds, angel investors and corporations to co-invest.
The model deliberately echoes Army of Drones, the 2022 campaign Fedorov led that helped transform Ukraine into one of the world's most prolific drone producers. At IT Arena, he said the country now has more than 700 drone manufacturers.
The Reality on the Ground
Ukraine already relies heavily on unmanned ground vehicles. The country's Ministry of Defence reported more than 9,000 armed ground-robot missions in a single month this spring, up from about 2,900 in November 2025, according to coverage of the launch. Those machines are wheeled and tracked, however. What Ukraine does not yet field is a walking robot that fights.
That gap is why many observers greeted the six-month humanoid target with caution. The Kyiv Independent reported that the launch video was AI-generated, and that most of the robot designs it depicted — humanoid, spherical, dog-like and spider-like — are not currently used in Ukraine's war. Independent analysts have argued that deploying humanoids in muddy, heavily jammed combat zones on such a short timeline is best read as an ambitious recruiting and fundraising signal rather than a guaranteed battlefield outcome.
Why It Matters
Army of Robots is significant well beyond Ukraine. Most humanoid robot companies — including Western leaders focused on warehouses and factories — have been cautious about military use. A well-connected former minister openly courting investors for combat humanoids pushes the question of armed humanoid robots from speculation into procurement planning.
It also highlights a pattern that has repeatedly surprised defence establishments: Ukraine's wartime urgency compresses development cycles. Consumer drones went from hobby gadgets to decisive weapons in about two years there. If even a fraction of that speed applies to ground and legged robotics, the conflict could become a proving ground for technologies — dexterous manipulation, autonomous navigation under jamming, robot-drone coordination — that civilian robotics firms are still refining in controlled environments.
Finally, the initiative raises difficult ethical and legal questions. Autonomous and semi-autonomous weapons are already the subject of international debate, and a public goal of a robot killing a soldier within six months is likely to intensify calls for clearer rules on human control over lethal force.
What Comes Next
The immediate signals to watch are the identity of the private technology partner, the first investors and companies to sign on, and whether Army of Robots can recruit a credible CTO. Early field tests — even of the modest reloading and battery-swapping roles Fedorov described — would be the first real evidence of whether humanoid robots can survive the conditions of modern war.
