Become a Member Today and Unlock EXCLUSIVE Videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKfak8fBm_Lhy4eX9UKxEpA/join
Support us directly as we bring you independent, up-to-date reporting on military news and global conflicts by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMilitaryShow/join
#militarystrategy #militarydevelopments #militaryanalysis
#themilitaryshow
Support us directly as we bring you independent, up-to-date reporting on military news and global conflicts by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMilitaryShow/join
#militarystrategy #militarydevelopments #militaryanalysis
#themilitaryshow
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:01Ever the innovators, Ukraine has spent almost five years coming up with ways to defend itself
00:06against Russia. What others say can't be done is what Ukraine does. Taking control of the Black Sea
00:13despite not having a navy and causing attrition to a force that has far more manpower are two
00:19examples. But this, this is different. Ukraine has built something that shouldn't exist so that it
00:24can take the fight to Russia. And that something is part of a revolution that has the potential to
00:30rewrite the way that war is fought. Ukraine has no choice but to take the massive step it has taken.
00:36And if it can pull off what it intends to do, Russia is finished. We head deep into Donetsk,
00:43somewhere near the region of Liman, where Russia has spent months building a salient that bulged
00:48through the Ukrainian lines. As a Russian soldier, you would have been feeling pretty good about where
00:54you had been posted. Sure, you might end up on the front lines sooner or later. But before that,
01:00you were hunkered down over 10 kilometers away, believing yourself to be relatively safe.
01:05Not 100% safe, of course. The buzzing of drones in the skies above could always signal an aerial
01:11attack on your position. Still, you know that you're not going to be fighting infantry anytime soon.
01:17One day, you hear the drones overhead once more, and you hide away. Only something is different this
01:23time around. The drones didn't attack, and for a moment, you assume that they were conducting
01:28reconnaissance. You can't be sure. A few minutes pass, then a few more. And just as you're starting
01:35to feel as comfortable as a Russian soldier can feel in Ukraine, it happens. An explosion goes off
01:42right by your position. How could this happen? That explosion sounded like a grenade, but there are no
01:47drones carrying explosives that you can see. And Ukraine couldn't possibly have sent soldiers
01:51so deep behind the lines. You peek out from your hidey hole, just long enough to see another
01:57grenade coming your way. For a second, before the explosion takes your life, you get a glimpse
02:02of who fired at you. Not who, what. You'll learn what that what is in a moment. First, this is
02:10The
02:10Military Show, and we're real people producing researched and fact-checked military reporting.
02:15If you want to support that, subscribe, share your thoughts below, and consider becoming a member
02:20for exclusive content we don't publish publicly. You see a machine. A small ground robot loaded with
02:26a grenade launcher is advancing on your position. Not that you're going to see what happens next,
02:31as the explosion from the second grenade eliminates you from the war that your insane leader started.
02:36While this sounds like it was pulled out of a sci-fi film, this scenario isn't make-believe.
02:42It's what actually happened, as executed by Ukraine's 3rd Army Corps during the initial phase
02:48of Operation Vivaldi. Ground robots operating in Ukraine are no big secret. They've been around
02:54for several years now. But what we're seeing is robots being used to carry out assaults against
03:00Russian positions, using weapons that are traditionally carried by infantry.
03:04The 3rd Army Corps itself provided many of the details in an ex-post detailing what it achieved
03:10during the first phase of Operation Vivaldi. NRCs equipped with two bullspike grenade launchers
03:16attacked the Russians at their positions, then detonated directly in their shelters. The occupiers
03:22thought they were being hit by an entire assault group, but in reality, it was the robots of the
03:27third assault that f***ed them over, the Corps declared. In a similar post on Telegram, the Corps revealed
03:32that its ground robots, or the NRCs mentioned a moment ago, are doing everything that an assault
03:38unit can do. Strikes are being delivered. Positions are being cleared. Add to that the psychological
03:44pressure being exerted just by the sight of these killer robots doing their work, and you get a
03:49revolution in warfare. The age of infantry may be over. The rise of the robots is beginning.
03:57United24 Media provides more information about how the assaults took place. The two bullspike
04:02grenade launcher-carrying robots had two roles. First, they approached a Russian position, firing
04:08grenades to kill any occupiers unfortunate enough to get in their way. Those who survived headed into
04:14their hidey holes, believing they might be safe. That's when the ground robots advanced deeper, heading into
04:20the Russian hiding places, before detonating themselves in kamikaze assaults that wiped everything
04:26out. As for the operators, they controlled everything from positions several dozen kilometers behind the
04:32front lines. What we see here is terrifying, as Ukraine has developed the beginnings of a robot army
04:38that is capable of mimicking an infantry assault without any of the risk involved in such an assault.
04:44Soldiers aren't being sent to clear Russian positions. Soldiers aren't dying to defeat Russia,
04:49and that is vital, as you'll soon find out. Russia couldn't have expected any of this. How could it
04:55have? The soldiers who died to Ukraine's ground robots in Operation Vivaldi would have thought they
05:00had been set up to battle a human assault force. They may have prepared positions and had rifles ready,
05:06always looking for people who never came. By the time the robots were among them, it would have been
05:11too late. But still, as they came under fire, they would be asking questions. How did those robots get to
05:17them? Not only were they over 10 kilometers behind the front, but they'd set up defenses, including
05:23mines and anti-vehicle barriers, to stop vehicles and even ground robots. Here's where another
05:29terrifying twist comes into play. Ukraine's ground robots aren't traveling by the medium that gives them
05:35their name. These robots are flying into the battlefield. What the Third Army Corps doesn't mention in its
05:41posts is that Operation Vivaldi saw more world firsts than Russian positions being taken using
05:46ground robots carrying grenade launchers. On September 21, Newsweek reported that Ukraine had
05:52carried out the first ever airborne robot assault by deploying ground robots behind the front lines.
05:58Heavy bomber drones were used to drop a different, but no less deadly, payload onto Russian positions.
06:04Often these ground drones weren't packing grenade launchers. They were basic kamikaze ground
06:09robots that simply advanced on Russian positions, often going undetected, until they were close enough
06:15to deliver their explosive payloads. We later learned, thanks to a September 28 report by RBC Ukraine,
06:21that the Alter Ego Ground Robot Battalion of Ukraine's 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade developed a unique
06:29technology to make this aerial assault happen. The battalion invented the Desantnik drone, which was
06:36designed to be dropped from a heavy bomber. That drone took just 10 days to go from concept to combat
06:41deployment, and it's fair to say that Operation Vivaldi has proven its viability. Another element to the
06:47horror has been added, an element that will likely spread through the Ukrainian army as Alter Ego shares
06:54its tech and methods. For Russia, if it's not ground robots launching the equivalent of infantry assaults,
07:00it's robots being airdropped to their positions before sneaking up to launch kamikaze assaults.
07:05It's still war, but not as anybody in Russia knows it. Ukraine never wanted things to go this far.
07:12These robots are being deployed out of necessity rather than desire. But now they're here, Russia
07:17has a potentially war-altering new enemy to deal with. And the horror is just getting started.
07:23New programs are being launched to ensure that Ukraine has the best possible chance to pull off a
07:27victory using its ground robots. Before we dig a little deeper into that, this is a reminder that
07:32you're watching the military show. If this is the kind of insight that you want to see, make sure you
07:36are subscribed to the channel and have notifications enabled so you never miss a video.
07:42We head to September 26th. Just a few days after the 3rd Army Corps revealed what it pulled off during
07:49Operation Vivaldi, a major Ukrainian figure decided the perfect time to make some waves had arrived.
07:56Mikhailo Fedorov, who you may remember as the short-lived but extremely popular former defense
08:02minister of Ukraine, announced that he had founded a new initiative. Disillusioned by the politics of war,
08:08Fedorov has instead decided to launch a private program that he believes will help his country
08:13secure victory against Russia. That program has a name, Army of Robots.
08:18The Kiev Independent has the details on Fedorov's new project, noting that the former defense minister's
08:24goal is to replace human beings on the battlefield in every possible way. His announcement, which was
08:30made at the IT Arena conference in Lviv on September 26th, sees Fedorov move into the defense tech industry
08:37in a way that nobody could have expected. The Army of Robots won't be created by one company,
08:43rather it's an ecosystem of several companies that are working together to create the current and next
08:49generation of ground robots that Ukraine uses in its fight against Russia. We will invest in defense
08:55tech companies, launch our own technology projects, create R&D capabilities, test solutions together with
09:01the military and scale up as quickly as possible the things that actually work on the battlefield,
09:07Fedorov declared at the conference. Such an announcement would already strike fear into Russian hearts.
09:12However, it's the man behind the program and the ideas that have inspired the Army of Robots
09:17that turn fear into abject terror. Fedorov is no tech bro who makes promises that he doesn't intend to
09:24keep. He is a man who has dedicated his considerable expertise to leveraging technology to overcome the
09:30Russian threat from the moment that Putin invaded. Way back in the summer of 2022, Fedorov spearheaded the
09:37Army of Drones initiative. That project managed to survive corruption scandals, which Fedorov played
09:42a role in exposing, and has helped to develop the drone-heavy approach that Ukraine uses today.
09:47Ukraine is now the world's foremost drone powerhouse, having signed deals all over the
09:52world for drone production. Domestically, Ukraine produces about 10 million drones annually, and it
09:59plans to double this production rate with the support of its partners, says UNN. Ukraine's drones are also
10:05incredibly effective. In March 2026, during Fedorov's third month as Ukraine's defense minister, Russia
10:12suffered 36,000 casualties. United24 media reports 90% of those casualties were caused by drones.
10:19It's fair to say that the Army of Drones concept, with Fedorov's help, has become a success.
10:24So when Fedorov says that the Army of Robots initiative is being modeled after the Army of Drones concept,
10:30Russia has a real reason to worry. A blueprint has been created already, and that blueprint has led
10:36to millions of Ukrainian drones tearing up Russian soldiers on the front, shattering logistics in the
10:41rear, and destroying key facilities inside Russia itself. Imagine that concept applied to ground robots
10:48that can be used for everything from infantry assaults to logistics tasks. Hundreds of thousands,
10:53perhaps even millions of robots. That appears to be what Fedorov envisions with his new project.
10:59The former defense minister is already making plenty of headway. Beyond announcing the ecosystem that
11:06will feed the Army of Robots concept, Fedorov has been busy setting up a fund. Toward the end of August,
11:12Fedorov headed to the US to make an offer and seek funding. The offer was as helpful to Ukraine as
11:18an
11:18entire Army of Robots would be. Fedorov tried to get the US to share Patriot missile technology with
11:23Ukraine in exchange for Ukraine sharing its drone technology. However, while in the US, Fedorov
11:29also sought backing from private investors, US tech firms and venture capitalists for a fund that
11:35would invest in Ukrainian defense companies and focus on the development of battlefield technology.
11:40This is not exactly a classic venture fund. We're writing a new history of the war,
11:45Fedorov declared. Just a few weeks later, we're seeing what that new history will look like.
11:51A day or two after his visit, Fedorov announced that he was going to open up a new defense tech
11:56firm with
11:57the backing of the CEO of Palantir, Alex Karp. We've worked together for half a decade. I've
12:03been absolutely inspired by what you and the Ukrainians have pulled off and very and super
12:08delighted that we could play a part, Karp said during the announcement. Again, we see pieces being
12:13put in place for what would become the Army of Robots concept. Fedorov hasn't confirmed that the funds
12:19he aimed to get from the US and the new defense company he formed with Palantir's backing will be
12:24part of the Army of Robots. But it's hard to see how they wouldn't be. The timeline from one
12:29development to the next is less than a month. And if there's one thing we know about Fedorov,
12:33it's that he values speed of execution. Even outside government, now from the private sector,
12:38we are continuing to work on our vision of technological warfare, air, land, economy. And
12:44our main mission, to create technologies that help Ukraine win and save the lives of our service
12:49members, Fedorov says of his new project. The last statement is especially important. Ukraine
12:56hasn't started building more lethal ground robots simply because it can. The one thing that underpins
13:02every new robot development, including the assault being carried out as part of Operation Vivaldi,
13:07is that Ukraine wants to preserve the lives of its soldiers. Almost five years of war have drained
13:14Ukraine's army. According to UA losses, Ukraine's confirmed casualties amounted to 212,974 people
13:22as of September 28th. Around half of those people are confirmed dead, with almost 98,000 having unknown
13:29fates. While nowhere near as Russia's losses, which Ukraine says amount to over 1.5 million soldiers and
13:36counting, this is still a lot of people lost. Russia also has a major manpower advantage. And though
13:43that advantage is being whittled away by Ukraine, which is now causing more casualties per month
13:48than Russia is able to account for via recruiting, there is a clear mismatch when it comes to soldiers.
13:54Ukraine had to do something to save as many of its soldiers as possible. Ground robots are
13:59increasingly looking like the answer. Even before killer robots were introduced onto the battlefield,
14:05Ukraine was using ground robots to save the lives of soldiers. Sometimes that was being done directly,
14:11as Ukraine used its robots to carry injured soldiers away from the front and back to the rear, where
14:16they could be treated. Other aspects of life preservation are more indirect. For instance,
14:22the Modern War Institute at West Point notes that the use of robotic platforms to carry out logistical
14:27operations had resulted in a 30% reduction in casualties by March. More robots mean more lives saved.
14:35And with the army of robots concept now upon us, we imagine tech like that used in Operation Vivaldi will
14:41soon go from being isolated to a few units to becoming standard issue across the Ukrainian army. Fedorov is
14:48far from the only person working to make ground robots the game changer they have the potential to be in
14:54Ukraine.
14:55Technicians who are part of individual units are also working on the technology, often bringing insight into
15:00what these robots need to do that comes directly from experience gained on the front. We've already
15:06seen that with the Alter Ego Battalion and its DeSantnik drone. Deep in Kharkiv, a mechanic with the
15:12callsign Chimera is also hard at work developing ground robots that can carry explosives to halt in
15:18advance. That's according to Reuters, which says that Chimera is working on a robot he calls the Hyena. And he
15:30is working on a machine as engineers tweak existing ground robots or develop tech of their own to serve
15:35any number of military needs. In essence, the army of robots is already being created by the ingenious
15:41developers on the front. But those developers need somebody who can focus their efforts and ensure
15:47production is achieved at a level that benefits all of Ukraine. That seems to be where Fedorov and
15:53his army of robots project comes into play. One feeds into the other to deliver death to the Russian
15:59invaders. We focused on the latest revolution in ground robots. Unmanned ground vehicles being used
16:05to launch grenades at Russian positions, being airdropped to those positions, and using kamikaze
16:10attacks to take them out, all tell us that Ukraine is getting serious with its use of robots. But the
16:16robots aren't just killers. They can be lifesavers, and not just for military personnel. We head to Oleshki,
16:23which is in the Kherson Oblast of Ukraine. There, a humanitarian crisis is underway as civilians
16:28are being starved by Russian soldiers who are preventing Ukraine from sending aid. Cut off from
16:34food and water by constant shelling and Russian drones, these civilians are living through one of
16:39the most harrowing crises yet seen during the war. One named Halia managed to tell her story to the BBC.
16:47The last food delivery to the city was back in May, Halia says. I eat once a day, a dinner
16:52only. I make some
16:53plain bread. Sometimes I can have it with a tomato or with some honey and a tea. That's it. Others
16:59don't even have that. Residents of Oleshki, who have run out of vegetables they were growing for
17:04themselves, are resorting to cooking garden weeds. It's a desperate situation created by Russian brutality.
17:10And Ukraine is using drones to solve it as best it can. According to the Kherson Oblast military
17:16administration, Ukraine has delivered about four tons of food to 100 locations in Oleshki,
17:22using drones since March. This has been confirmed by a resident who spoke to the Kyiv Independent who
17:28said, drones dropped the packages in several places. The packages contain a little bit of medicine and
17:33food. I don't know whose drone it was, but I reckon it was Ukraine that dropped them for us.
17:38The problem, the Kyiv Independent says, is that Russian occupiers in the city often hunt for residents
17:43who pick up these packages. And if found, those residents end up being beaten and brutally tortured.
17:49Ground robots haven't been deployed to Oleshki yet. But what Ukraine is doing with robots in places
17:54like Donetsk could transform how it delivers these packages. Imagine, instead of a small drone dropping
18:00a tiny package, Ukraine sends a mothership drone loaded with several unmanned ground vehicles. Each of
18:06those vehicles is dropped in a safe location, loaded with food. Then it starts moving, carrying that food to
18:13where it needs to be, perhaps covered by aerial drones that attack any Russian forces who attempt
18:18to stop it. The potential for such life-saving humanitarian work is there. Ukraine's robot
18:23revolution may have a bigger impact in the occupied territories than it first appears. We can say for
18:29certain that these robots are changing the rules of warfare. Russia knows it as well as Ukraine,
18:34and it's trying to catch up on the ground robot front. But as is so often the case, Russia is
18:39a long way
18:40behind Ukraine with this technology. Back in May, Pravda reported that Russia doesn't believe ground
18:46robots will be able to perform combat missions for another decade or more. Ukraine's robots are
18:51already involved in combat. The future that Russia can't reach is now the present for Ukraine. Russia
18:59is trying to catch up. Pravda says that Russia now has at least 20 companies producing 29 different
19:05types of ground robots. But 12 of these companies are subject to Western sanctions already, and more
19:12will likely follow. But even with this push, Russia lacks the ingenuity that we see from Ukraine. What
19:17was supposed to take over a decade for Russia has been proven a reality by Ukraine. Ground robots
19:22carrying grenade launchers and explosives are now part of assaults. Other robots help with logistics and
19:27evacuations and the potential to deliver aid to where it's needed exists, albeit unrealized right now.
19:33Operation Vivaldi has shown us that Ukraine is rewriting all of the rules of warfare.
19:39Picture the scene. A solitary US M2A4 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle is facing off against a group of
19:47Russian tanks and other armored vehicles. On paper, the Bradley is surrounded. The Russian
19:52armor is approaching from several directions, moving in for the kill. The outcome of the battle looks
19:58inevitable, and it doesn't look good for the outnumbered Bradley. But the Bradley is carrying
20:03a secret weapon. Without warning, Russian sensors suddenly detect incoming threats, but they're not
20:08shells or drones approaching from the air or infantrymen storming them. Instead, it's a swarm of small
20:15compact ground robots, or SUGVs, approaching rapidly over the rugged terrain. Before the Russian tanks have
20:23time to react appropriately, the SUGVs are upon them. Some drive straight into the Russian tanks,
20:29kamikaze style, the high-explosive warheads damaging the tracks as they explode on contact. Others act as
20:36forward-deployed sensors, providing precise targeting coordinates for the Bradley's main gun,
20:41and nearby US attack drones and artillery. Within minutes, fire rains down on the Russian armor. The battle
20:47is quickly over, with yet more Russian armor left burning in the fields. It's been comprehensively
20:53overwhelmed by the US's SUGVs, with the Bradley acting as the mothership. Sounds like science fiction,
20:59and while the opening scenario is hypothetical, the concept behind it is now being tested. The US
21:05has recently demonstrated a Bradley carrying five advanced new SUGVs during an army exercise. The fire
21:13ant. So, let's take a closer look at this innovative new vehicle, why it's rapidly becoming one of the most
21:19ways to watch new projects under evaluation by the US Army, and what it suggests about the future of
21:24armored battles. But before we dive in, just a quick reminder to subscribe to the channel and tell us
21:30what you think in the comments down below. If you want even more from the channel, consider becoming a
21:35member for access to exclusive content. Footage published by the fire ants developer, US-based
21:41swarmbotics AI in late August 2026 showed a Bradley carrying five fire ants attached to its side during
21:49a test exercise. The division is one of the operational formations supporting the Army's larger
21:55Transformation in Contact, or TIC, modernization initiative. Launched in 2024, TIC represents the
22:03initial 18 to 24 month phase of a broader three-period transformation plan that structures the Army's
22:10modernization across three distinct time horizons, 18 to 24 months, 2 to 7 years, and 7 to 15 years.
22:18As one of the leading divisions implementing TIC, units assigned to the 1st Cavalry have been testing
22:24and evaluating various new weapon systems and other capabilities through Pegasus Charge events and other
22:30exercises. And following the fire ants' successful participation at the 2025 X-Tech Overwatch competition,
22:38the Army clearly appears to have fast-tracked the system for testing. X-Tech is an in-house Army
22:43technology accelerator that regularly hosts innovation challenges to support new developments
22:49that could be of interest to the service, according to a swarmbotics AI press release from February 2026.
22:56During X-Tech Overwatch evaluations, soldiers from the 1st Cavalry Division assessed several
23:02contractors' autonomous capabilities that spanned from ground, airborne payload and mission planning.
23:08The evaluation was obviously successful, because the US Army subsequently picked swarmbotics AI,
23:15SBAI, to build swarming attritable SUGVs to advance TIC with the 1st Cavalry Division.
23:21Less than six months later, we now have a clearer idea of how the Army intends to deploy them, and
23:27it has the potential
23:28to change the equation of heavy armor-based battles forever. As noted earlier, the August footage
23:33shows a Bradley with five fire ants attached to its side. It could also conceivably house several
23:39more inside and deploy them via its rear ramp. In other words, instead of just being primarily an infantry
23:45fighting vehicle, the Bradley could potentially serve as a transport and control platform for a swarm of ground robots.
23:52And from what we know so far, the fire ant looks perfectly suited for the role. Broadly speaking,
23:58it's a lightweight, attritable unmanned combat platform designed to detect, track and engage
24:03heavy armor targets like tanks while operating in groups under a single human operator.
24:08Each fire ant swarm can function semi-independently, sharing targeting data and adapting to changing
24:15battlefield conditions in real time. But that's only a fraction of what this SUGV can do.
24:21Swarm Botics marketing materials describe the system as one operator, multiple robots,
24:27infinite tactical advantage. And it's the fire ant's versatility that provides the tactical advantages.
24:33For starters, it's compact and lightweight enough to be deployed in various ways. With a weight of less
24:39than 198 pounds and a length of around 3.3 feet, it's small enough to be carried and deployed by
24:45a
24:45two-person fire team or airdropped by rotary wing platforms and UAVs.
24:50As the first cavalry has just demonstrated, it can now also be deployed from Bradley's and in
24:55swarms of at least five units. But if you're thinking that that compactness and lightness
25:00makes it unsuitable for difficult terrain, say for example in the mud season in eastern Ukraine,
25:06think again.
25:06The fire ant has been specifically ruggedized for combat conditions. More specifically,
25:12it's built to an IP67 protection standard, meaning it's sealed against dust and can withstand temporary
25:18immersion in water. In addition, Swarm Botics has stated that the system has been hardened to resist
25:24heat, vibration and shock, ensuring operability in environments as diverse as deserts and urban terrain.
25:30It's lightness means it's also a lot less likely to get stuck in the mud, a common problem with heavier
25:35armor like the Challenger 2 tank. Its low-silhouette all-terrain chassis, powered by a hybrid electric
25:41drive, provides a minimal thermal signature in addition to high mobility across challenging terrain.
25:47Powered by a hybrid electric drive, it provides a minimal thermal signature in addition to high mobility
25:52across challenging terrain. But being able to operate across a swathe of different conditions
25:57is just one aspect of this innovative vehicle's versatility. It can also be easily configured to
26:03carry different payloads for different mission profiles, even right in the heat of battle. It
26:08payloads are modular, designed to be quickly interchangeable in the field without needing to
26:12return to base. At present, the primary mission profile assigned to the fire ant is as an anti-armor
26:19weapon. It has various means of destroying or disabling adversary armor. Engineered to be
26:24irritable yet lethal, the fire ant's modular payload base supports loitering munitions,
26:29explosively formed penetrator EFP devices, and a lightweight recoilless rifle system equivalent to
26:36the US M-72 law, but optimized for side and rear armor penetration. While highly effective against armor,
26:43the problem with most of these munition types is that the fire ant needs to be in proximity to its
26:47target for maximum effectiveness. And that's where deploying swarms of them from a Bradley could
26:52make all the difference. Deploying fire ants from helicopters is extremely risky in today's drone and
26:58anti-air drench battlefields, and it's unclear how many could be deployed by landing a chopper on the
27:03front lines at once. Similarly, it's unclear how many could be deployed from a large UAV, or how challenging
27:09it might be to maneuver the mother UAV into position to offload its fire ants right on the battlefield.
27:15But getting right up close to the action securely is precisely what the Bradley is made for. The army
27:21has previously demonstrated the ability of the Bradley to serve as a forward control node for UGVs,
27:26without actually deploying them itself. Now, Bradleys could also bring groups of fire ants or simile-sized
27:32designs to the front lines, and then either control them itself or hand off control to other nodes in
27:37the network. As you can imagine, the fire ant's swarming capability would be very beneficial in this
27:43scenario for overwhelming defenders, as well as for launching attacks on large groups of tanks and
27:48other armored vehicles across a broader area. The army has also previously demonstrated deploying
27:53fire ants directly from larger UGVs. So, if you combine the two deployment methods, you can get an
28:00additional layer of crewed-uncrewed teaming capability that could push the entire chain further
28:05forward on the battlefield, and that, in turn, would help keep human personnel even further removed from
28:10potential threats, which is the primary advantage that UGVs in general provide, after all.
28:17Now, enjoying our reporting? Well, don't forget to subscribe to the channel and share your thoughts
28:22in the comment section below. And, if you'd like to support the real people behind the channel,
28:28become a member to access exclusive content you won't find anywhere else.
28:32As noted earlier, the fire ant's capabilities are certainly not just limited to purely combat
28:37missions. They can also be highly effective at intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance,
28:42ISR for short, and defensive counter-drone operations. Each fire ant carries a multi-spectral
28:48sensor package that includes infrared, electro-optical, and laser range-finding systems. These are
28:55integrated into a neural processing unit, capable of running onboard computer vision algorithms,
29:00trained on real-world vehicle signatures. The UGV also includes inertial navigation and GPS
29:06redundancy to ensure accurate positioning in GPS-degraded zones, a capability that's proven
29:13critical in peer-conflict scenarios like the one playing out in Ukraine. The comprehensive sensor
29:18suite enables real-time threat classification and dynamic targeting even in cluttered environments,
29:24regardless of the specific mission profile. But the fire ant can also be equipped with additional
29:29sensor and electronic warfare payloads, enabling it to scout ahead, provide added general situational
29:35awareness, jam enemy signals and tracking systems, and even launch non-kinetic attacks.
29:41That's what the fire ant is capable of today. But in the near future, that range of capabilities is set
29:47to expand considerably. Swarmbotic's AI is reportedly integrating a sensor-to-shooter protocol that allows
29:54fire ants to act as spotters for overhead loitering drones or indirect fires, effectively turning the
30:00swarm into a mobile targeting array. Future variants are also expected to support multi-domain
30:06integration with airborne and maritime unmanned systems, under the US Army's broader Project Convergence
30:12Framework. To be sure, the fire ant already possesses a high capacity for integration with the US's other
30:18advanced systems and networks. Swarmbotic says all its robots integrate with common robotic software
30:24architectures, such as ROS2, short for Robot Operating System 2, and JAUS, the Joint Architecture
30:31for Unmanned Systems. These integrations simplify the process of linking the swarm into broader defense
30:37networks and command systems, another reason why the Army is paying such close attention to
30:42the fire ant. For example, deeper integration with the US's broader networks opens up the potential
30:48for a forward-deployed counter-drone role for the UGV. Fire ants could conceivably act as signal relay
30:54nodes, which would be especially useful when employing the UGVs in semi-autonomous swarms and or for pushing
31:01them far in advance of the main body of a friendly force to gather intelligence. So, put it all together,
31:07and the fire ant has the potential to be so much more than just a high-tech tank killer
31:12or rugged miniature intel gathering unit. It's designed to act as a force multiplier, penetrating
31:18contested zones ahead of manned units, drawing fire from enemy positions, and channeling armor
31:23into kill zones where precision-guided weapons or loitering munitions can be deployed with maximum
31:28effect. And that's where its swarming abilities really stand out. A single operator can command a
31:34formation of six to eight fire ants via a single, secure touch-screen interface. The swarm operates
31:40as a decentralized mesh network with peer-to-peer communication, maintaining coordinated spacing,
31:46fields of fire, and engagement prioritization while allowing rapid adaptation to new threats
31:51or terrain changes. But while the entire swarm remains ostensibly under the control of an operator,
31:57it can also function semi-independently, sharing targeting data and adapting to changing battlefield
32:03conditions in real time. According to the company, Fire Ant's design specifically emphasizes swarm
32:09autonomy, where the robots can coordinate their movements and tasks without direct human control.
32:14As per their aforementioned February press release, when networked together in a swarm,
32:19the UGVs are capable of coordinated behavior across mixed teams and missions. That's of course made
32:25possible by deep use of AI, although the specific models and architecture use have understandably not
32:31been disclosed. And ultimately, the specific AI integration used isn't the real value that the
32:37Fire Ant provides, especially when deployed from a Bradley mothership. The real value is in mass and
32:43cost efficiency. Stephen Houghton, Swarmbotic's AI CEO, perhaps sums it up best.
32:49Mass is our objective. By employing swarms of heterogeneous small SUGVs, we create multiple
32:56dilemmas for our adversaries at fractions of the cost of exquisite platforms. As evidenced by the
33:01war in Ukraine, and to a lesser extent Israel's attempts to dislodge the Hezbollah militia from
33:06southern Lebanon, in today's drone electronic warfare-saturated battlefields, traditional heavy
33:12weights of the battlefields like tanks and infantry fighting vehicles aren't anywhere near as effective
33:17as they used to be. Even top-of-the-line vehicles like the Bradley. For both the Ukrainian and particularly
33:23the Russian sides, it's not just feasible anymore to use multi-million dollar vehicles in scenarios
33:28where they're highly likely to be disabled or destroyed by FPV drones, costing an order of
33:33magnitude or two less. Israel's illustrious Makava tanks and Neymar IFVs have proven just as susceptible
33:40to Hezbollah's cheap FPV and fiber-optic guided kamikaze drones. The cost-to-kill ratio is simply
33:46unsustainable, especially when you consider how long it takes to build or repair a piece of heavy armor
33:51compared to how many thousands of FPV drones can be mass-produced in the same time and for a small
33:56fraction of the cost. Now, the fire ant is still at the prototype evaluation stage, so any estimate
34:02of how many swarm botics will be able to produce during serial production is pure speculation. But at
34:08an estimated average cost of around $50,000, it's vastly more cost-effective to a TRIT than a tank,
34:14especially since it eliminates the risk of losing the potentially priceless life of servicemen.
34:19That's why in Ukraine, use of UGVs is growing exponentially. Ukraine's true battlefield losses
34:25are a closely guarded secret, and the subject of widely divergent speculation, ranging from a total
34:31of tens of thousands to over 2 million. But with top officials stating that it needs to recruit around
34:3730,000 new troops every month, from the roughly 2 million men estimated to currently be dodging the
34:42draft within the country, it's undoubtedly short of personnel. So, it's increasingly turned to ground
34:48robotic systems to plug the gaps and preserve its precious human capital. And the world is watching
34:53closely. Ukraine today is using thousands of UGVs to move supplies, rescue the wounded,
34:59shoot down drones, lay mines, and even fight battles. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy set a target
35:05for ramping annual production of UGVs to 50,000 units in 2026. And according to the CEO of Ukraine's
35:12primary military equipment marketplace, Brave One, Andrei Hrytsenyuk, we feel pretty confident that
35:19we'll be able to execute this plan. He says around 99% of the drones used by the Ukrainian armed
35:25forces
35:25are domestically produced, with around 280 Ukrainian companies currently producing roughly 550 different
35:32models, ranging from large to as small as the fire ant. The primary use case is logistics, or more
35:38specifically providing transportation in the grey zone, because it's very dangerous on the last 10
35:43to 15 kilometers, roughly 6.2 to 9.3 miles from the front line, Hrytsenyuk says. In March, we performed
35:509,000 missions. In April, more than 10,000. So, the implementation of logistics by drones is
35:56permanently increasing. Now, given their comparatively small size, the fire ant isn't likely to be used for
36:02logistics, nor is it likely to be of much use in the second use case for UGVs, mainly seen in
36:08Ukraine, evacuation of the wounded. Rather, it's in the third Ukrainian use case that they're intended
36:13to excel, combat operations, and not just against armor. According to Hrytsenyuk, we have more than
36:2010 different models of combat UGVs. They're used for attacking Russian soldiers and hitting Russian
36:26armored vehicles. Also, they're used as anti-drone aerial defense systems. We use combat UGVs to hit
36:32Shahids, to hit FPV drones, including those using fiber optics, and even small Russian planes.
36:38And it's in combating these aerial threats that the fire ant's advanced AI is likely to make a big
36:44difference. Hrytsenyuk is adamant that combat UGVs without artificial intelligence do not work at the
36:50appropriate effectiveness. The AI handles object recognition, identification, classification,
36:56tracking, and providing recommendations for the operator on what to do. In other words, AI helps
37:02to acquire targets, determine how far away they are, and what altitude and speed they're flying,
37:07and then enables the UGV to open fire at them autonomously. But at this stage, the main thrust
37:13of the US Army's evaluation of the fire ant seems to be as a key component of mixed-man unmanned
37:19teams,
37:19rather than operating fully autonomously. SwarmBotics has stated that its ultimate goal is to field mixed-teams
37:25are small ground robots capable of working alongside human soldiers, thereby extending their reach,
37:31increasing survivability, and transforming the tempo of ground warfare. According to them,
37:36this coordinated behavior across mixed teams and missions enables faster decision cycles and
37:42improves situational awareness through real-time tasking, data sharing, and kill chain acceleration,
37:48i.e. the process of detecting, identifying, and engaging a target. By operating in swarms as part of
37:54such a mixed deployment, low-cost fire ant swarms have the potential to extend sensing and strike
38:00capabilities right onto the enemy's doormat, without exposing human troops to harm. Even better,
38:06they could provide economical alternatives to traditional anti-tank weapons such as guided missiles
38:11or heavy gun systems. So, it's no surprise that the US Army has fast-track testing of the fire
38:17ant deployed via the Bradley. In one fell swoop, the move could transform a stalwart of the force from
38:22an expensive vulnerability into a crucial control system for lethal UGVs that can unleash in the
38:28most advanced areas of the frontline. That aligns perfectly with the Pentagon's push for mass-produced,
38:33smart, and expendable platforms under the Replicator Initiative, which seeks to saturate the battlefield
38:39with autonomous systems capable of operating under human command but with enhanced autonomy.
38:44The fire ant's battlefield logic fits seamlessly into this vision. It gives US ground forces the means to
38:49deny armour-heavy adversaries freedom of movement without costly tank-on-tank duels,
38:55amongst a host of other use cases like ISR and counter UAV.
39:00For months you've been hearing about what Ukraine has been doing in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
39:05Strike after strike against oil tankers and ferries loaded with supplies, all designed to cut off Crimea
39:12and make those two C's impossible for Russia to use. Now we know more about Ukraine's insane genius operation.
39:20Ukraine has been milking Russia dry for months with its insane milk strategy.
39:26Operation Molochka is here, and the name tells us everything that we need to know about what Ukraine is doing.
39:32Molochka hasn't been chosen at random. In both Russian and Ukrainian, Molochka is a colloquial term for milk and other
39:39dairy products.
39:40So when Ukraine says that Operation Molochka has been milking Russia dry,
39:44it means in the most literal sense of the word. The results speak for themselves.
39:49But before we share them, we're real people producing researched and fact-checked military reporting.
39:55If you want to support that, subscribe, share your thoughts below,
39:58and consider becoming a member for exclusive content we don't publish publicly.
40:02In an operation that has lasted for 11 weeks and counting, Ukraine's drones have destroyed hundreds
40:08of the ancient oil tankers that Russia uses to transport fuel and oil to Crimea,
40:13and in many cases, through the Kerch Strait and into the wider world.
40:17We mean hundreds literally.
40:20300 Shadow Fleet vessels have been tracked down and disabled,
40:23the commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, Robert Brovdy, declared in a September 22nd Facebook post.
40:30Brovdy came bearing receipts, specifically a video showcasing strike after strike was shared by Brovdy,
40:37demonstrating just how impactful Ukraine's drones, both aerial and maritime, have been in the Black Sea and the Sea of
40:44Azov.
40:44Brovdy continued, adding,
40:46The 300 Fleet, a suitcase without a handle, and a drain on the worm-sized budget.
40:51The Sea of Azov stands, and will stand, together with the Kerch Strait.
40:56There's more to the name than just milk.
40:58Operation Malochka is also a backronym, reports the Kyiv Post.
41:02It stands for Moscow Will Lie Across Crimea.
41:05And that gives us a massive hint about why Ukraine has launched this operation.
41:09But we'll get to that later.
41:11Digging deeper into the results that Brovdy shared,
41:13Ukraine's milking operation has clearly been extremely effective.
41:17Most of the damage was done during the early portion of the operation.
41:21By July 17th, just 11 days into an operation that started on July 6th,
41:26Ukraine was reporting that it had destroyed 159 of Russia's Shadow Fleet vessels.
41:31The objective was made clear by that point,
41:33as Ukraine noted that it was using its drones to destroy Russia's maritime logistics.
41:37If it transported oil, it went down.
41:40The same went for any ship that was found to be transporting fuel,
41:44cargo and other supplies, which resulted in more than tankers being targeted by Ukraine.
41:49Commercial ferries, which had been commandeered by Russia and turned into makeshift military
41:53transports, also started coming under fire.
41:56So did tugboats and any other types of vessel that Ukraine believed served in a supporting role.
42:02This early stage of milking the Shadow Fleet dry amounted to an impressive average of around 14
42:07to 15 strikes per day.
42:10After that, things started to slow down just a little bit for Operation Malochka.
42:14But Ukraine still had plenty of pain in store for Russia.
42:18By early August, Ukraine had struck a total of 218 Shadow Fleet vessels,
42:23including 12 during the first week of the month.
42:26Most were hit in the Sea of Azov, which accounted for 134 of Russia's ship losses versus 84 in the
42:32Black Sea.
42:33However, this period also marked the point where Ukraine seems to have decided to switch its focus.
42:38By the time Brovdi was reporting on 300 Shadow Fleet vessels struck,
42:42the tally was 166 tankers in the Black Sea.
42:45The number in the Sea of Azov remained the same, hinting at the fact that Ukraine's campaign had been
42:49so effective that Russia was trying to avoid that sea at all costs.
42:53What we're seeing here is a brilliant asymmetric blockade that Ukraine has put in place.
42:58A country with no navy has essentially transformed the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov,
43:02along with the Kerch Strait, into no-go zones for Russia's Shadow.
43:06And as you'll soon discover, it's done it through the brilliant use of drone technology
43:11that Russia never saw coming.
43:13Operation Malochka is having the exact impact that Ukraine wanted.
43:16The goal was to milk Russia dry by sapping its Shadow Fleet's ability to transport oil and
43:22supplies, thus essentially milking that oil out of Russian circulation.
43:26We've seen that happening during the last 11 weeks.
43:29As Euromiden Press reported on September 22nd, several shipping companies have started to
43:34suspend bookings that would bring their vessels within range of Ukraine's operation.
43:39Among them is MSC, Mediterranean Shipping Company, which is the world's largest container carrier.
43:44Toward the end of August, that carrier suspended all bookings for transport through the Russian port of
43:49Novorossiysk, which is Russia's key link into the seas that Ukraine has been targeting.
43:54Novorossiysk has essentially become a choke point due to Ukraine's strategy.
43:58Ukraine has been hitting the warships Russia has been forced to station there,
44:01as it did on August 12th, when it hit four in a single night.
44:05These strikes send a clear message.
44:07The port is in Ukraine's sights, and it's a dangerous place to be if you're helping Russia export goods.
44:13The message is being heard loud and clear by shipping companies,
44:17leaving only those directly associated with the Shadow Fleet willing to take the risk.
44:21Even Russia itself has been forced into action.
44:24At the height of Ukraine's operation, Russia was forced to close the Donazov shipping channel,
44:29as well as the Kerch Strait, due to fear of more Ukrainian drones.
44:32Though those channels have since reopened, the ships sailing through them are still in danger.
44:38Ukraine has created uncertainty, even as its attacks become less frequent.
44:42The message has been sent, and the risk never truly goes away.
44:46Russia doesn't like being milked.
44:48The country's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, was decrying Operation Molochka as
44:53piracy from the very beginning. In fact, he somehow viewed it as lower than piracy.
44:58You know what the Ukrainian regime is doing isn't even piracy.
45:01Pirates at least steal for themselves.
45:03Here, they neither take anything for themselves nor let others have it.
45:06They simply want to inflict damage and spread fear.
45:09It's pure terrorism, he declared when quizzed about the operation on July 14th.
45:13Brovdy was quick to respond to that complete misunderstanding of what Ukraine was doing.
45:18No piracy, Lavrov, just business. Yours. Bloody.
45:22Brovdy shot back.
45:23What Lavrov doesn't say is that Russia knows exactly why Ukraine is doing this.
45:28Theft was never the point. Taking away the things that Russia relies upon both to keep Crimea under
45:33control and to ensure that cash continues to flow into the Kremlin coffers was always what this was
45:38about. And the Kremlin should know that better than anyone. Russia has its own long history of
45:43striking merchant ships in the very bodies of water that Ukraine now targets with the world's most
45:47explosive milking operation. From the very beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has targeted
45:53Ukrainian merchant vessels, particularly those carrying grain. Russia established a blockade of
45:58Ukrainian ports in 2022, causing a global spike in food prices and, according to the New York Times,
46:04placing 70 million people at risk of acute food insecurity. Russia has relented on this blockade
46:10due to international pressure. But what the likes of Lavrov won't tell you is that Operation Malochka
46:15didn't come out of nowhere. Between June and July of this year, Russian forces attacked at least 50 cargo
46:22ships, killing 30 civilians in the process. If Lavrov wants to talk about terrorism, he should first ask
46:28the Kremlin why it was targeting civilian vessels. Look at the dates. Russia's attacks started in June
46:34before Operation Malochka was launched. In a way, we could see the milking of Russia's shadow fleet as
46:40revenge for what Russia was already doing. However, there is also a big difference between what Ukraine
46:45targets and what Russia is hitting in the Black Sea in the Sea of Azov. Russia strikes civilian vessels,
46:51merchant ships that have no motive other than getting their goods to where they need to go.
46:56Russia would argue that the same applies to the ships it's been losing. Russia would be lying.
47:01Ukraine isn't hitting legitimate merchant vessels in Operation Malochka, it's taking out shadow fleet
47:05ships that Russia has purchased specifically to circumvent global sanctions, so it can keep on
47:11making money to fund Putin's invasion. The shadow fleet is a shady collection of ropey old oil tankers,
47:17many of them well past their sell-by dates, that Russia uses to transport its energy cargoes.
47:22These ships often sail under different flags and engage in tactics such as shutting off tracking
47:27devices that are supposed to make them difficult to trace as they make their journeys.
47:32Russia has hundreds of these ships. Windward says as many as 1,300 vessels are part of a dark fleet,
47:39which directly engages in practices like ID and location tracking. Another 1,000 are part of the
47:45grey fleet, which uses flag hopping to deliberately obscure ownership. So when Lavrov tries to claim piracy or
47:52terrorism, he's comparing apples to oranges. Russia hits legitimate merchant vessels, while Ukraine
47:58takes out shadow fleet ships that only exist to support Putin's insane war. The impact of Operation
48:04Malochka is being felt all over Russia, but before we dig deeper, you're watching The Military Show.
48:09There's more where this comes from, so make sure you subscribe and enable notifications if you're getting
48:14value from our channel. There is always one overriding reason why Ukraine takes out Russian
48:20oil facilities and tankers. It wants to cause as much economic pain as possible. The latest
48:26revelations about Operation Malochka come out of a time when Russia's fossil fuel export revenue is
48:31declining. According to the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air, or CREA, Russia's fossil fuel
48:37exports declined by 8% in August month-on-month. Seaborne crude oil exports were hit hard as their
48:43volumes fell by 13% during the month. That just accounts for volume. On the revenue front, a 13%
48:50decline in crude oil exports amounts to a 32% decline in seaborne oil export revenue as the lower
48:56volume collided with declining oil prices. Ukraine's intensifying campaign has also made it much harder
49:03for Russia to ship oil out of Novorossiysk. CREA says that August saw Russia stop loading oil at
49:08the port for nine consecutive days, contributing to a 58% decline in loadings when compared to July.
49:15Russia has been forced to increase oil shipments from its Baltic Sea ports in response to Ukraine's
49:20operation. That alone tells us just how much control, or more accurately, the lack thereof,
49:25that Russia exercises in the Black Sea region. But while we're seeing pain inflicted on Putin's
49:30invasion pocketbook, it's Crimea that is really feeling the pinch. A huge part of why Ukraine
49:36launched Operation Malochka was to feed into its ongoing strategy to isolate Crimea and wrest the
49:41illegally annexed peninsula out of Putin's grasp. The maritime connections that Ukraine is turning
49:47into a no-go zone for Russian ships are the most important lifeline that the Kremlin has for sustaining
49:53its Crimean forces. That's according to Pravda, which says that Ukraine's strikes on the Kerch Bridge
49:58have already forced Russia to cease the transport of military hardware and supplies over that bridge.
50:04Instead, Russia uses ships, ferries and river-sea-class oil tankers, which keep what Crimea
50:10needs flowing into the peninsula. Ukraine's strategy is simple here. The more of the Russian
50:15shadow fleet that can be taken out of commission in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, the harder
50:19it
50:19becomes for Russia to maintain uninterrupted fuel supplies to the peninsula. And that's exactly what
50:25we've been seeing. Crimea has been in the grip of a fuel crisis for months now as a result of
50:30Operation
50:31Malochka, but also of a mid-range campaign against Russian logistics in occupied Ukrainian territory
50:37and strikes that are being carried out in Crimea itself. Fuel rationing has been in place for months
50:42on the peninsula. Gas stations are only allowed to sell fuel for four hours per day and customers are
50:47limited to 20 to 30 litres per car, depending on the region. Crimean authorities have even instituted a
50:53license plate system, through which cars with plates ending in odd numbers can get fuel one day,
50:58followed by those with even numbers the next. Euromiden Press adds that alongside Operation
51:03Malochka, Ukraine has been running Operation Crimean Switch-Off. Launched at the same time,
51:09as Ukraine started milking Russia's shadow fleet, this operation focuses on taking out energy nodes all
51:14over Crimea, plunging the occupiers into darkness. Operation Crimean Switch-Off has been successful.
51:21374 energy nodes across occupied Crimea and the other occupied territories of Ukraine have been
51:27shut down as of September 10th, leading to Crimea experiencing repeated blackouts. Still questions
51:33have to be asked. At first glance, what Ukraine is doing in Operation Malochka seems like it could be
51:38an environmental disaster. Oil tankers are being targeted. Does that mean we're seeing a whole lot of
51:44Russian crude oil and fuels spilling into the sea as a result of these strikes? No. Precision has been
51:50the name of the game for Ukraine during the entire operation, and it's gone to great pains to disable
51:55Russia's ships without destroying them to the point where their cargo spills into the Black Sea or the
52:00Sea of Azov. Pravda reveals more in its August 1st report on Ukraine's strategy of disrupting Russia's
52:06maritime logistics. Strikes aren't being carried out against the ship's hulls, and they're not being
52:11launched with the intention of sinking Russia's ships. Rather, as Mikhailo Honchar, who is the
52:16president of the Strategy 21 Center for Global Studies, points out, Ukraine is surgical with its
52:21strikes. Tankers are targeted with surgical precision. If a naval drone is used, it strikes
52:27the propeller and rudder assembly at the stern, causing the vessel to lose maneuverability, he says.
52:32The Magura series of sea drones is usually the star of the show here. The Magura V-7, in particular,
52:38has a range of up to 1,500 kilometers and a top speed of at least 39 knots. It can
52:44catch a creaking
52:45Shadow Fleet tanker easily. And when it does, it can destroy the tanker's propeller and rudder
52:50assembly in a kamikaze strike or deploy aerial drones to carry out attacks. If Ukraine uses aerial
52:56drones, we see a similar level of accuracy and proficiency. If the attack is carried out by an
53:01aerial drone, the target is the bridge where the ship's controls are concentrated. The vessel is
53:06put out of action and requires repairs. Honchar at. This is the genius of Ukraine's strategy.
53:12The ships that it hits aren't destroyed, but they're still rendered inoperable. Left adrift,
53:16they have to be towed back to shore by Russia, which costs time and resources. Russia then has to try
53:21to
53:22repair the ships, which isn't an easy task. Remember, most of these ships are old tankers and other
53:27non-standard vessels. Finding the parts needed for repairs will be hard enough at the best of times,
53:32but it often becomes impossible for Russia due to sanctions. Often, Russia is forced to replace
53:37its broken vessels with other ships, which then become new targets for Operation Malochka.
53:43Everything we're seeing in Operation Malochka builds on what has come before in the Black Sea.
53:47If you're wondering why the once dreaded Black Sea Fleet hasn't been able to stop any of Ukraine's
53:51strikes, it's because Ukraine has rendered that fleet practically useless. Most of what's left of
53:56it is hiding away in Novorossiysk, which we already know Ukraine is targeting.
54:00The rest of the fleet is sunk or damaged. Ukraine has contained the Black Sea Fleet by using a
54:05combination of drones, both aerial and maritime, missiles and mines. Russia's warships aren't in
54:11the Black Sea anymore and that means they can't be used to protect Shadow Fleet vessels.
54:15If Russia tried, more Black Sea Fleet warships would go down. In fact, a September 23rd report by
54:21Defense Express reveals that Russia only has two cruise missile ships left in the Black
54:26Sea, along with a pair of submarines that don't see much use. Other missile cruisers such as the
54:31Admiral Essen and the Admiral Makarov have been victims of Ukrainian strikes, rendering them in
54:37need of repair. Russia has no real Black Sea power anymore. It's been rendered toothless by a country
54:44that doesn't even have a name. The only question left is, what comes next?
54:49We mentioned earlier that what we've seen from Ukraine during Operation Malochka is the creation of
54:53an asymmetric naval blockade. Ukraine likely wants to build on what it's achieved so far.
54:58Oil tankers were the focus of the first few weeks of the operation, but bulk carriers may be the next
55:03targets. Ukraine wants to gain fire control over the eastern part of the Black Sea and then build
55:08out from there. Right now, Crimea is the worst impacted by Ukraine's milking of the Shadow Fleet.
55:14The goal for the future is likely to expand the scope to the point where the ships responsible for
55:19exporting Russia's oil and cargo refuse to sail through the Kerch Strait. That will force more
55:24reliance on Russia's Baltic ports. And that means attempting to get more Shadow Fleet ships
55:29through the Baltic Sea, which is surrounded on all sides by NATO member nations. The strategy may be
55:35that what Ukraine can't destroy in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov could be targeted by its partners.
55:40On September 23rd, United24 media reported that Ukraine had flagged 38 ships linked to Russia's
55:46Shadow Fleet, 10 of which are not yet sanctioned by its partners. So we see a future approach
55:51becoming clearer. Operation Malochka will continue in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov,
55:56cutting off a vital financial lifeline for the Kremlin and feeding into the campaign to isolate
56:01Crimea. Elsewhere, Ukraine will track the Shadow Fleet. It will fine and report ships,
56:06ensuring that they can only sail under heavy sanctions. Disrupting Russia's maritime
56:11operations and revenue is the end goal. Operation Malochka has shown us that Ukraine is getting
56:16better and better at achieving what it wants to achieve. For Putin, the continued isolation of
56:22Crimea is the worst outcome of Operation Malochka. If you want to learn more about how Putin's greatest
56:27geopolitical victory is being transformed into his worst disaster by Ukraine, we have the perfect video
56:42for you.