"The mission of the Army of Robots is to save lives," former Minister of Defense Mykhailo Fedorov declared as he unveiled a CGI vision of humanoid soldiers at the IT Arena conference in Lviv, Sept. 25–27. The announcement set out an aggressive timeline — a "confirmed battlefield result" by a two‑footed robot within six months and an autonomous "assault operation" within a year — and prompted sharp questions from entrepreneurs, former officials, and analysts about feasibility, priorities and doctrine.
Fedorov’s pitch at IT Arena
Fedorov framed the initiative as the next phase of technological warfare. In a Sept. 26 social media post he recalled that "In 2022, we launched the Army of Drones" and asserted that "today, drones account for more than 95% of strikes." His conference remarks and the slick video he showed envisaged sensors detecting threats first, followed by robotic platforms that "should fight instead of people" — including humanoid robots depicted aiming rifles, fighting in trenches and marching in formation.
Fedorov also announced in August that he had launched his own defense company; he identified Palantir CEO Alex Karp as the company's first major investor. He did not specify what role his new company would play in the broader vision, saying instead that the effort would be an "ecosystem" involving investments in defense companies, R&D, testing with the military and scaling of effective systems. Fedorov’s press team did not respond to a request for comment for this report.
Borys Drozhak and Rovertech: technical skepticism
At the conference, Borys Drozhak, founder of Ukrainian UGV manufacturer Rovertech, warned that humanoid designs complicate scale, cost and battlefield reliability. "I hope Fedorov knows exactly how to handle the mathematics of war with his new project," Drozhak said, arguing that wheeled or tracked unmanned ground vehicles are easier to scale, cheaper and more durable. He noted the higher chance that "something might go wrong when you go on two feet rather than on wheels" and described humanoids as "more unstable and much costlier."
The conference discussion stressed that tracked and wheeled UGVs have already played varied battlefield roles in Ukraine — from casualty evacuation to strike missions — and that those platforms are typically not used in fully autonomous mode, "generally relying on Starlink to connect to a human operator."
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See what we buildKateryna Chernohorenko: infrastructure, training and priorities
Kateryna Chernohorenko, who served as Deputy Minister of Defense for Digital Transformation from 2023 to 2025 and worked closely with Fedorov, said she was "surprised" by the project launch and described it as a "difficult endeavour." She emphasized requirements that go beyond hardware: operators must be trained, and "suitable infrastructure and coordination centers" should have been in place "yesterday" to support deployment.
Chernohorenko did not rule out Ukraine’s technical ability to build such systems, given the country's R&D and engineering base, but she questioned the immediate value relative to other needs. "For me that would be cheaper cruise missiles," she said, adding that this year should be one of "cheaper cruise missiles and air defenses" because "Russia is much more vulnerable to these." She also warned that scaling humanoid production would be more challenging than scaling first-person-view drones, citing the need for a "component supply chain base" for these platforms.
Federico Borsari: political context and doctrinal limits
Federico Borsari, a fellow with the Transatlantic Defense and Security Program at the Center for European Policy Analysis, placed Fedorov's announcement in the political context of his July dismissal by the president. Borsari suggested the ambitious project was partly "a way to draw attention to his work and signal that he remains an influential player" and that the technology could be developed as dual‑use with market prospects beyond defense.
From a military-technical standpoint, Borsari echoed others in calling for "validated, reliable robotic platforms that are easy to use and can be quickly repaired or upgraded." He characterized humanoid soldiers as a distant prospect because militaries still lack doctrines or frameworks to use them, noting that "most countries are still figuring out how to adjust and develop doctrines for the current generation of uncrewed systems, after four years of intensive use." The announcement came against a background of international experimentation: the source cited China’s robotic Olympics earlier in the year and the U.S. Army’s xTechHumanoid competition held earlier this month.
What this means for the Ukrainian military, UGV manufacturers, and investors
- Ukrainian military and defense planners: will need training pipelines, coordination centers and supply chains to back any move toward humanoid platforms; current usage of UGVs indicates continued human‑in‑the‑loop control via satellite links.
- UGV and robotics manufacturers (e.g., Rovertech): face a choice between focusing on scalable wheeled/tracked platforms already proven in operations, or diverting engineering resources to riskier, costlier humanoid development that Drozhak described as "harder to achieve."
- Investors and tech entrepreneurs: should expect the project to be positioned as dual‑use and marketable beyond defense, but also likely to attract scrutiny over timelines, battlefield utility and the need for supportive doctrine and infrastructure.
Fedorov’s timeline — a battlefield "kill" by a humanoid robot in six months and an autonomous assault within a year — sets a sharp benchmark. Conference participants agreed on Ukraine’s technical talent but differed sharply on priorities, logistics and the maturity of doctrine and supply chains required to make humanoid soldiers more than a CGI demonstration. Whether the proposed "Army of Robots" will meet its own deadlines, or simply reshape public conversation about future platforms, remains to be seen.
