New tactic: Ukrainians ambush Russians with fast RC cars charged with powerful explosives

Today, there are interesting updates from the Li-man direction.

Here, the Russian command sends small infantry groups to try to penetrate the Ukrainian defense from the rear, but the Ukrainian Third Army Corps answered them with the next step in its drone innovations. For the first time, a ground kamikaze drone was sent to hunt the hunters and eliminate the enemies while they were attacking.

For two months now, the Russians have been trying and failing to break through the Ukrainian defenses in front of Novoselivka. If they manage to enter the settlement, they could create a foothold to threaten Izium from the east and Li-man from the north.

Despite establishing a bridgehead over the Zherebets River, Russian reinforcements still cross it under catastrophic losses. They cannot bring armored vehicles across, so they send in infantry only, with tiny assault groups of three to five men slipping through forests and trenches, searching for gaps in the Ukrainian line.

One Ukrainian video from the vicinity of Novoselivka shows how these infiltration attempts often end. After spotting a small Russian group that managed to sneak toward the Ukrainian rear, a recon team moved in using an armored vehicle. While listening to a captured Russian radio, the Ukrainians overheard the enemy commander warning his soldiers they had been detected. Realizing contact was imminent, the Ukrainian troops dismounted under turret cover and began clearing the tree line.

In a short and brutal engagement, four Russian soldiers were eliminated, and rifles, grenades, and communications gear were seized. This constant cat-and-mouse struggle is typical of the direction, but Ukraine has begun deploying a new weapon that is reshaping the battlefield.

The Ukrainian Third Army Corps, famous for battlefield innovation, is now fielding ground kamikaze drones for limited assaults. After a Russian infiltrator group was detected near Novoselivka, drone footage shows a small remote-controlled Ukrainian ground robot creeping through grass and branches, silently approaching the unsuspecting soldiers. One Russian heard something and turned toward the sound, but it was too late.

The robot surged forward and detonated, killing one, wounding another, and sending the third scrambling for cover, only for a Ukrainian FPV drone to finish him off. The operator later explained this was the first combat use of the ground kamikaze system to attack the attackers, which until now had been used primarily for logistics and medical evacuation.

Another video from the same area shows a ground drone being sent to eliminate a Russian firing point. Thanks to its extremely narrow profile, the machine slipped through barbed wire and debris, reaching the dugout undetected. It detonated inside the structure, collapsing the firing position and killing the Russians within.

These attacks demonstrate that while the Russians rely heavily on infantry infiltrations, Ukrainian forces increasingly use automated systems to track, fix, and destroy enemy troops with minimal risk to their own soldiers.

As you may remember from a previous report, Ukraine has already executed a pure-drone multi-phase assault in the Li-man direction, combining aerial surveillance and FPV drones with unmanned ground vehicles loaded with explosives to clear enemy dugouts. The latest development marks a clear trend, as ground drones start to become an essential part of Ukrainian frontline operations. They can carry ammunition, food, medical gear, and even evacuate wounded soldiers and are now used for direct assaults. Though slower and more expensive than aerial drones, they are far more resistant to jamming. Aerial drones crash when the signal is lost, while ground drones stop and wait until communications return. Their use is growing because they close the personnel gap by doing the most dangerous work when manpower is limited.

Overall, the Russian command wants to reach the northern outskirts of Li-man at any cost, putting enormous pressure on the Ukrainian defenders, who remain outnumbered across the entire sector. That is why the 3rd Army Corps invests so heavily in drone warfare, with ground drones to clear trenches being the latest development, as technologies compensate for troop shortages and allow Ukraine to hold the line even against superior numbers.