Ukraine's Operation Vivaldi counteroffensive is a proving ground for war robots

Ground robots are being deployed in a variety of roles during Ukraine's Operation Vivaldi.

Yevhen Titov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images Ground robots are playing a key role in Operation Vivaldi, an ongoing Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Ukrainian troops are using them to distract the Russians and carry out assaults behind enemy lines.

Business Insider spoke with a commander whose unit is at the front of the robot operations.

Ukraine's Operation Vivaldi is showcasing how ground robots are reshaping offensive warfare.

In the opening stages of this complex operation, Ukrainian forces used uncrewed ground vehicles , or UGVs, as distractions.

The robots drew Russian attention and exposed surveillance systems and firing positions while assault troops slipped through and seized key territory.

Robots have also conducted airborne assaults, delivered explosives, attacked enemy command centers, and supported infantry operations amid this major counteroffensive in eastern Ukraine.

NC13, a strike UGV unit within the Third Assault Brigade of the Third Army Corps, has played a leading role in Vivaldi.

Mykola Zinkevych, the unit's commander, told Business Insider that his forces have used robots across a wide range of missions to inflict defeats on the Russians.

Over the course of the operation, the robots evolved from diversions that enabled Ukrainian advances into armed strike platforms targeting Russian command posts, drone operators, and large troop concentrations in the rear.

Ukraine is sending robots to distract and assault Russian positions.

Yevhen Titov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images Zinkevych, who goes by the call sign "Makar" and spoke through a translator, said these efforts disrupted Russian command and control and logistics, making it harder to bring in more soldiers and limiting Moscow's ability to conduct operations.

Robots also carried out what the commander described as full-scale robotic assault operations , independently and in support of Ukrainian infantrymen.