Ukraine has built a robot to carry wounded soldiers out of the kill zones. Evacuation is a fight for the life of the wounded soldier, as well as for the lives of those who set out to help them, the manufacturer Robotized Complexes said, unveiling the "Murakha CaseEvak", a robotic evacuation complex that removes a soldier from a danger zone remotely, minimizing the risk to personnel.

Casualty evacuation on a front saturated with Russian drones is one of the deadliest tasks in the war, with wounded soldiers sometimes waiting days for extraction.

Troops told Euromaidan Press in May 2026 that there were essentially zero purpose-built casevac robots on the market, with evacuation handled by logistics robots not designed to handle the wounded. The Murakha CaseEvak is built specifically for that job: an armored medical capsule on a ground robot, controlled remotely so no rescuer has to enter the drone-hunted zone. It is the specialized casevac machine that the gap called for.

The capsule is armored to survive the trip

The core of the system is a medical capsule built to protect the wounded soldier from the threats that make evacuation lethal. The armored capsule is made of Armox 500T armor-piercing-resistant steel, protecting the person inside from shrapnel and other external threats and creating conditions for safe transport even in zones where enemy drones are actively operating, per Robotized Complexes.

Folding side and rear covers allow a wounded soldier to be loaded quickly, and inside the capsule is a life-support system, ventilation, heating, interior lighting, video surveillance, two-way audio communication, and an emergency door-opening function from inside. A wounded soldier sealed in the capsule can be monitored and spoken to by the operator throughout the drive, and can get himself out if something goes wrong.

The armored approach has already proven itself. In December 2025, a Ukrainian robotic evacuation capsule took a direct hit from a Russian FPV drone mid-evacuation, and the wounded soldier inside survived, a demonstration of exactly why putting armor around the casualty matters when drones hunt the rescue.

The robot was rebuilt to carry the weight

Carrying an armored capsule required upgrading the robot underneath it. The evacuation capsule weighs 344 kilograms, and the complete complex weighs 1,031 kilograms, so Robotized Complexes modernized the Murakha platform itself, increasing motor power to 8 kilowatts and substantially expanding battery capacity.

The connectivity is built to survive Russian jamming, the problem that grounds so many ground robots. The complex carries day, night, and thermal cameras and supports several control channels, including ELRS, LTE, Starlink, and fiber-optic, allowing it to operate even in environments where the enemy is actively using electronic warfare.

Ukraine's new military leadership has named its program: machines over men. Ukraine will bet on long-range strikes, robotic systems, and other technologies to increase pressure on Russia and preserve the lives of Ukrainian soldiers, acting Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara said after meeting the new Commander-in-Chief, Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi, according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. 

The direction is the one championed by Mykhailo Fedorov, the reformist defense minister whose dismissal on 15 July set off six days of nationwide protests. Fedorov is the architect of Ukraine's "Army of Drones" but was fired after a clash with then-Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi.

The protests demanded his reinstatement and Syrskyi's removal. Syrskyi is now gone, and Fedorov remains out of government, too.

What is first priority?

The first-priority decisions of the new military leadership, Khmara said, are to strengthen the front, reinforce support from international partners, and, to the maximum extent possible, transfer combat operations onto the aggressor's territory.

"We must scale what we are already effective at: deep strike, middle strike, ground robotic systems, and other solutions that preserve soldiers' lives and inflict maximum damage on the enemy," Khmara claimed.

Ukrainian units will receive more modern strike systems, above all long-range ones, and new technological solutions that let them carry out combat tasks with less risk to personnel.

"Ukraine will continue its strike and technological pressure on Russia by all available means," he said.

The statement is the first joint declaration of intent from the leadership that emerged from a week of protests.

Khmara says he proposed Drapatyi for job

The acting minister disclosed his own role in the appointment. Khmara said he fully trusts Drapatyi, whose candidacy he himself had earlier proposed to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the post of commander-in-chief.

"We agreed to be honest with each other, and to resolve all differences exclusively in the interests of Ukrainian soldiers," Khmara stated.

He and Drapatyi see the further development of the Defense Forces in the same way, he said, and Zelenskyy has backed that vision.

What the statement leaves unsaid is the question the protests have not dropped: whether Fedorov himself returns.

The Defense Ministry has approved the Ukrainian-made ground-based robotics complex "Murakha" ("Ant") for combat operations, the ministry announced on June 28.

Since 2024, Ukraine has been scaling up robotics development in hopes that mass production of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) will "minimize human involvement on the battlefield."

The Murakha is a tracked robotic platform designed to support front-line units working under challenging conditions, such as under enemy artillery and in heavily mined terrain, the Defense Ministry said.

Its larger size makes it one of Ukraine's leading UGVs in terms of load capacity. The Murakha can reportedly carry over half a ton of weight across dozens of kilometers. It can also cross difficult terrain and shallow water.

According to the Defense Ministry, the Murakha's multiple control channels allow it to function successfully even in areas of the battlefield where Russian electronic warfare (EW) systems are operating.

Mobile robots are capable of performing several tasks on the battlefield, including offensive and defensive activities, evacuation of the wounded, logistical support for units, and mining and demining.

In April, the Defense Ministry unveiled the D-21-12R UGV, a ground-based robot equipped with a machine gun.

Ukrainian drones strike missile, drone arsenal in Russia’s Bryansk Oblast

Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) struck on June 28 the 1060th Material-Technical Support Center in the city of Bryansk, Ukraine’s General Staff said. The facilities store a Russian missile and drone arsenal, Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing a source in HUR.

The Kyiv IndependentDmytro Basmat