First battlefield capitulation to robots: Ukrainian drones force Russian surrender and seize fortified position (video)
Ukrainian drones seized a Russian fortified position and captured prisoners-of-war in Kharkiv Oblast. The 3rd Assault Brigade calls it the first battlefield capitulation to robotic platforms. Ukrainian infantry didn’t engage in combat. They entered only after Russian forces surrendered and the treeline was clear.
Ukrainian drones seize fortified position, force surrender
On 9 July, Ukraine’s 3rd Separate Assault Brigade announced that its drone and ground robot operators forced Russian troops to surrender in Kharkiv Oblast — without any infantry engagement or Ukrainian losses.
According to the Brigade, the robotic strike involved both an FPV drone and a kamikaze ground drone carrying three antitank mines — a total of 21-22.5 kg of TNT. The FPV and the first ground drone’s blast hit a dugout entrance in the Russian position. As another land robot moved in for a second strike, two surviving Russian soldiers waved a cardboard sign reading “We want to surrender” in Russian.
“The explosion with the three antitank mines — that was a very powerful blast. The dugout wasn’t fully destroyed, so we got the order to hit it again. We moved in, and they realized we were going to blow it up again. […] ..and they very quickly put the sign out,” one of the Ukrainian soldiers said.

Drone footage shows moment of surrender and remote-led capture
The 3rd Assault Brigade’s Telegram post includes a video file timestamped 8 July, featuring aerial footage of the engagement and the enemy’s surrender. Additionally, Ukrainian drone operators narrate the footage and recount the operation. However, the exact date of the robotic engagement itself is not explicitly stated.

The video shows an aerial FPV drone strike, a powerful explosion of an “NRK”—a remotely controlled “ground robotic complex”—at the entrance to the dugout, and the Russian soldiers displaying the sign.

As recounted by the NC13 unit of the DEUS EX MACHINA drone company, a small reconnaissance UAV was used to guide the surrendering soldiers safely to Ukrainian lines.
“Then the major flew down the Mavic (a Chinese drone, widely used for reconnaissance by both sides, – Ed.), we showed them with the drone — like, come here. [..] They followed the Mavic precisely and lay down in the ‘dolphin pose’ on the ground,” the military said.

After the Russian surrender, Ukrainian infantry moved in quickly and secured the position. The brigade noted that previous Ukrainian attempts to storm the area had failed. This time, however, the assault team held back while drones led the operation.

Ukrainian drones seize fortified position in 15 minutes without losses
Once the Russian troops were taken prisoner, the planned infantry clearing operation began — but was largely symbolic. The drone operator noted in the interview:
“A clearing operation was planned there — we were supposed to carry out the strike, and they were supposed to clear the area. But it turned out that… that unit took over the dugout’s treeline in just 15 minutes. The entire strip was already ours — literally, and without any losses. You could say, not a single shot was fired.”
He said the drone-led engagement proved that robotic platforms “make operations significantly easier.” In some cases, they “even free the infantry from the task entirely.”
“Our example proved that with robotic platforms, it’s possible not only to storm positions but also to take prisoners,” another drone operator emphasized.