Ukraine will not accept ceding land to Russia, Budanov says. Ukrainian drones hit the Gorky oil pumping station in Russia. Ukraine\u2019s robotic systems transform how wars are fought, Politico says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine will not cede land to Russia, while the Ukrainians need to put aside all differences and unite for the sake of their country\u2019s survival, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov said in an interview on the stage of the Kyiv Security Forum on Thursday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe red line is simple and clear to everyone. First, we will not recognize anything [occupied land as Russian \u2014 edit.]. This will not happen, regardless of how hard they try,\u201d Budanov said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine will find a solution that will serve its interests, he continued. No one \u201chas the right to bargain away land,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo one in Ukraine will accept the recognition even of a millimeter of our territory [as Russian]. I am absolutely convinced in that. The fact that we did not achieve an agreement is well-known. But this is what this [the negotiation] process is for. It may or may not achieve its goal. This is normal. We need to be prepared for any scenario and we need to be strong,\u201d Budanov said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If Ukraine is strong, it will have room for a maneuver. Its weakness will encourage others to dictate their conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe need to become strong and continue to be strong to achieve success in the negotiation process. No one in the world will make agreements with those who are weak,\u201d Budanov added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Ukrainians need to unite in the name of their country\u2019s survival, he said, arguing that \u201cthere are no other options.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi told reporters on March 31 that Russia demands Ukraine\u2019s withdrawal from Donbas in order to end the war. If Ukraine doesn\u2019t withdraw its troops within two months, Russia will seize Donbas and put forward other demands for a peace deal, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on April 1 that Zelenskyi should order Ukrainian troops to leave Donbas \u201ctoday\u201d or \u201cbetter, yesterday\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zelenskyi has repeatedly stated that Ukraine will not accept territorial concessions and will not withdraw troops from Donetsk and Luhansk regions. In an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera published on March 3, he explained that an eventual withdrawal would open the way for Russia toward the central part of the country. Concessions won\u2019t stop the Kremlin\u2019s new demands, he warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drones of the Alfa Special Operations Center of Ukraine\u2019s Security Service struck the Gorky oil pumping station in Russia\u2019s Nizhny Novgorod region overnight on Thursday, The New Voice of Ukraine said, citing unnamed sources in the agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The strike damaged three oil tanks, causing a fire that spread to 20,000 square meters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The station is part of Transneft\u2019s Verkhnyaya Volga branch of the company. It moves oil through major pipelines, including ones in the Surgut-Gorky-Polotsk direction, and pumps oil domestically, including to the Lukoil refinery in Kstovo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine\u2019s Security Service said the strike disrupted operation of major pipelines and oil refineries inside Russia, causing supply problems. It affects Russia\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to media reports, Ukrainian drones also struck the Novokuybyshevsk oil refinery in Russia\u2019s Samara region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next evolution of war is happening here. It\u2019s already happened in the air \u2014 where Ukraine\u2019s high-tech drones have made the 50-kilometer zone behind the front lines a death trap for Russian troops; and in the sea \u2014 where Kyiv\u2019s maritime drones dealt heavy blows to Russia\u2019s Black Sea Fleet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week highlighted how human-operated robots captured a Russian ground position and forced soldiers to surrender. Politico talked to the Ukrainian commander in charge of that assault. The paragraphs below are quoted from the article published on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn conditions of dense saturation of the sky with UAVs, on the modern battlefield ground robotic systems allow for dangerous work to be carried out without involving personnel,\u201d said Mykola Zinkevych, commander of the Third Assault Brigade\u2019s ground robotic systems unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, it\u2019s happening on land, where Ukrainian robotic systems are being used to assault and capture enemy fortifications. Combined with drones and human forces, ground robots have the potential to help reshape how wars are fought \u2014 much like the medieval advent of gunpowder, or the development of tanks during World War I.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The robots have a wide range of uses. \u201cDelivery of important cargo, evacuation of the wounded, conducting surveillance in open areas, destruction of enemy fortifications, sabotage operations behind enemy lines, laying minefields \u2014 all this is now performed by ground robotic systems,\u201d Zinkevych said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is crucial for Ukraine, which has had difficulty recruiting enough soldiers to fight off grinding \u201cmeat wave\u201d assaults, Russia\u2019s relentless high-casualty infantry attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cInfantrymen can and should be taken out of direct fire. Our goal for 2026 is to replace up to 30 percent of personnel in the most difficult areas of the front with technology,\u201d Zinkevych said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Kremlin\u2019s full-scale invasion in 2022 plunged Ukraine into a technological arms race, where it is now carving out a lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russia is also expanding its use of land drones to supply soldiers, evacuate the wounded and occasionally attack the enemy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bloodless developments underscore how robotics can shift the broader calculus of war, replacing costly human assaults with remotely operated pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mykola Bielieskov, a Ukrainian military analyst with the National Institute for Strategic Studies, compared the arrival of robots to the revolution in military affairs of the 1920s and 1930s, when new technology like machine guns, tanks and aircraft combined to upend warfare in the early 20th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Bielieskov warned that the use of robots \u201cmay lead to an unfounded conclusion about the reduction of the importance of humans in war,\u201d which he told Politico remains \u201cdecisive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are working to ensure that the robots take the main blow, and the infantry becomes an elite, specialized force to perform those tasks that the robots cannot perform. Because one way or another, people are still the basis of the army,\u201d Zinkevych said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukrainian command was initially unconvinced about ground robots as there were too few skilled operators. That changed, however, after several innovative brigades tested them in different environments and proved their value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adding to the need to take the tech more seriously was the success of aerial drones, where Ukraine has established an advantage over Russia and is now pummeling its troops and logistics in a \u201ckill zone\u201d far behind the front lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur goal is to perform 100 percent of front-line logistics by robotic systems,\u201d Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said last week. \u201cIn the first half of 2026, due to increased demand, we will contract 25,000 ground robotic systems, which will be delivered to the front. This is twice as much as in the entire year 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TerMIT, developed by Ukraine\u2019s Tencore company, is a tracked ground robot that can carry up to 400 kilograms at a top speed of 15 kilometers per hour and operates at a range of up to 40 kilometers. It\u2019s used for everything from cargo transport to medical evacuations, and combat when equipped with machine guns and grenade launchers and is in service with the Third Assault Brigade, as well as more than 50 other units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne TerMIT managed to lay more than 1,500 anti-tank mines before Russians destroyed it with many FPV drones,\u201d [Maksym Vasylchenko, the co-founder and CEO of Tencore] said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kyiv\u2019s issue is that soaring demand is creating a supply squeeze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUkrainian producers can cover the growing demand, the bottleneck is in state procurement and in the ability to master these systems in the army,\u201d [Ihor Fedirko, CEO of the Ukrainian Council of the Defense Industry] said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine\u2019s European allies are also playing a role in supplying finance, either directly or through programs like the EU\u2019s \u20ac150 billion loans-for-weapons SAFE program, which is open to Ukrainian companies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"