Russo-Ukrainian war, day 1638: Ground robots move from testing to combat as Ukraine’s tech war accelerates

Exclusives

Putin's Mach-10 wonder weapon misses by 30 meters. Russia stopped building it in April.. Putin unveiled it as unstoppable in 2018. Ukrainian intelligence says the line stopped in April, and the fuel now goes to Iskanders.

Wiretaps, a mocking codename, and a seized playbook—Ukraine's anti-graft bureau reaches the President's Office again. Media reports place a deputy head of the presidential office among those searched, while investigators decline to confirm any identities.

Military

"Two targets and ammo with one drone": How a Ukrainian drone crew hunts Russian transport behind the front line. A National Guard unit uses middle-strike drones to hunt Russian military vehicles deep behind the front line.

Intelligence and technology

Ukrainian top volunteer from outgoing minister's own team, whose drones downed 12,954 Russian targets, is offering to help his successor. Serhii Sternenko, the activist whose charity has supplied hundreds of thousands of FPV drones, congratulated new Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara with his new position.

Ukraine's 25th Airborne Brigade moves ground robots from testing to combat. The brigade is now using the machines for supply, evacuation and fire missions across its units.

No radio signal, no way to jam it: Ukraine's top-ranked strike drone can wait 48 hours for its target. Ukraine's manufacturers ranked their most effective fiber-optic strike drones in July, with Beshket, Deadliner Q1, and Vyriy Opto 10 taking the top three.

Estonia probes Russian link in suspected arson at military robot maker supplying Ukraine. A Tallinn blaze hit premises used by the maker of THeMIS ground robots, which Ukraine uses for evacuation, resupply, and mine clearance.

Humanitarian and social impact

Two officers, 101 soldiers—Ukraine's newest homecoming from Russian cells. The group spans four years of the war, from the fall of Mariupol to captures made only months ago.

Polish prosecutors charge a woman over an attack on Ukrainian children. Consulate says the siblings were targeted for speaking Ukrainian. The attacker twisted one child's arm, broke the siblings' toy drone, and threw its fragments at the 12-year-old boy, scratching him, according to the family and the consulate.

Political and legal developments

Ukraine's parliament advanced a Finnish-style shelter bill: everyone must be able to reach one within 10 minutes. Ukraine's parliament passed a first-reading bill requiring bomb shelters within 10 minutes' reach, as tens of thousands shelter in metro stations nightly.

Ukraine's former Defense Minister Fedorov is out, but man behind his procurement reform and apps like Army+ isn't going anywhere. Mstyslav Banik, the deputy who ran Ukraine's defense-procurement reform, says he is staying in the team of new Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara.

"Fedorov instead of Khmara": Ukrainian protesters outside parliament greet news of new defense minister's appointment with disapproval. People say they will continue protesting despite the decision.

Ukraine's new defense minister says he already knows Russia's strategy for fall and winter. Yevhenii Khmara has become Ukraine's new defense minister after a vote in parliament.

Germany charged a Ukrainian for the Nord Stream blasts—Kyiv is now investigating if Russia staged the attack to frame Ukrainians. Ukraine's top prosecutors confirmed they are testing a "false flag" theory even as a Ukrainian suspect heads to trial in Germany.

Read our earlier daily review here.