Fedorov pitches private‑sector robot army for Ukraine's front line
The former Ukrainian defense minister wants private investment in battlefield robots, though he says drones still handle more than 95 percent of target engagements.
Former Ukrainian defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov announced a private-sector initiative called "Army of Robots" at IT Arena 2026 in Lviv, The Decoder reported. "Robots should fight, not people," he said.
The program pushes for what Fedorov called "full-scale battlefield robotisation," built through a private-sector ecosystem of defense tech firms, according to The Decoder. Fedorov said he plans to invest in companies, launch new tech projects and run testing at military scale. The announcement gave no funding figures or timeline.
Drones already account for more than 95 percent of target engagements in Ukraine, Fedorov said. The country now has more than 700 drone manufacturers. AI-controlled drones already make some attack decisions on their own in Ukrainian operations. The Decoder said the humanoid robots shown in Fedorov's promotional materials are far less battle-ready than the drones.
The Decoder framed the initiative as serving two purposes at once: pressuring Russia and drawing investment into Ukraine's private defense-tech sector. Fedorov did not say when any robot beyond drones might reach the battlefield.