The Ukrainian military has reported that an amphibious operation against Russian forces was recently carried out using only unmanned vehicles.
The 123rd Territorial Defence Brigade, a unit under Ukraine's all-reserve Territorial Defence Forces, used an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) to deliver an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) onto a Russian-held beach in the Kinburn Spit in Mykolaiv Oblast.
The 123rd Territorial Defence Brigade then posted video footage of the supposed operation on its official social media channel. In the video, a UGV is seen being deployed by a USV on a beach and then shooting a weapon of unidentified calibre against a target.
The unit provided no details on the outcome of the operation other than it being, "the first combat mission of this format known to us in the world [wherein] a ground-based robotic complex was delivered to [an] enemy shore by an unmanned sea platform, landed in occupied territory, and used to perform a combat mission."
The area of Ukraine where the supposed operation occurred has been occupied by Russian forces since March 2022. It has been regarded as strategically important due to its location near the convergence of shipping routes out of the ports of Mykolaiv and Kherson.
