Ukraine transformed Soviet-era armored vehicles into unmanned “zombie cars” that blew away Russian defenses and allowed Kyiv to capture 250 Moscow soldiers, officials said.
As part of Operation Vivaldi, which saw the liberation of three Ukrainian villages on Monday, Kyiv’s troops unleashed a squad of self-driving BTR-60 armored vehicles that slammed into Russia’s most heavily fortified positions in the city of Nove.
Footage from the frontline battle showed how the armored vehicles raced across muddy terrain and barreled into the barracks in Nove, which had been converted to a key Russian logistics hub.
The operation was carried out by Ukraine’s 3rd Army Corps, with Brig. Gen. Andrii Biletskyi touting the quick work that forced entire Russian units to surrender.
“The idea that ‘Russians don’t surrender’ from movies in practice turned into entire units surrendering in full — including officers, pilots and artillerymen,” Biletskyi said of the beaten Kremlin forces.
“We hope to exchange them for Ukrainian soldiers currently in captivity in the near future,” he added.
The kamikaze vehicles are only the latest examples of how Ukraine has been forced to innovate and create mechanized forces to counter the never-ending wave of Russia’s invasion force.
The machines have gotten deadlier in the four years of war, with Biletskyi estimating that some 2,000 Russian troops were wounded or killed in the latest operation.
The liberation of Nove was conducted under Operation Vivaldi, a phased counter-assault aimed at taking back Ukrainian land occupied by Russia’ army.
Along with Nove, the 3rd Army Corps freed the settlements of Ridkodub and Katerynivka, as well as restored full Ukrainian-control to the villages of Karpivka and Novomykhailivka.
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Operation Vivaldi has so far liberated nearly 68 square miles of land from Russian forces, according to the Ukrainian military, with Kyiv previously taking back about 288 square miles in the first months of 2026.
Russia’s army still controls about 45,000 square miles of territory, or about 20% of Ukraine, according to an analysis from the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.
