Ukraine’s military is increasingly turning to robotic ground machines to offset one of its most pressing wartime challenges: a shortage of manpower.

The tracked or wheeled devices are used to ferry supplies, clear mines and evacuate the wounded or dead from areas too dangerous for soldiers, where Russian drones crowd the skies and turn stretches of the front into lethal ground.

Some commanders believe the technology is only at the dawn of its development and will soon become essential in a war where combat has drastically changed under Russia’s invasion.

The ground robotic complex resembles a small armored vehicle, often mounted on tracks or wheels like a miniature tank.

Painted in military colors, it crawls slowly over rubble or along dirt roads, built to navigate terrain too dangerous for soldiers.

Many brigades across the front are now introducing such machines, though some are further along than others.

"Lubart" Brigade team has only 10 men and is just starting integrating the machines into their workflow, mostly using them for logistic purposes.

Serviceman "Akim" of "Lubart" Brigade said that the role of such machines will only grow.

"It saves the lives of fighters who would have to do it either by car or on their feet with a fever, it replaces the fighters,” he told The Associated Press.

Before sending a robotic vehicle forward, Akim flies a reconnaissance drone along the planned route to check for obstacles or mines, including those that Russians drop from drones to remotely seed the ground.

Operating from a cramped basement near Kostiantynivka, less than 10 kilometers from the front, the muffled thuds of aerial bombs and the sharp cracks of artillery and drones can still be heard even underground.

Kostiantynivka, once home to 67-thousand people, now lies largely deserted.

The city sits on a shrinking patch of Ukrainian-held territory just west of Bakhmut and is nearly encircled on three sides by Russian forces.

Apartment blocks are scarred by strikes, smoke still rises from recent bombings, and the roads leading toward nearby Pokrovsk are littered with burned-out cars.

The drone serves as Akim’s eyes, allowing him to scout the city and routes without risking his life, while soldiers embrace sending robots instead of manned vehicles into such terrain.

On one mission, the team loaded it with 200 kilograms of supplies — ammunition, fuel, water and food — for FPV-operators several kilometers ahead and much closer to the zero line.

The machine trundled forward at about six kilometers per hour, delivered its cargo into well-hidden position in the forest line, and returned to base.

Despite their promise, obstacles have prevented the robots from scaling up and becoming a significant game-changer.

The robot moves slower than a car and usually across open ground, which makes it an easy target.

The machines also require constant modification.

Ukrainian crews try improvised protection, welding grill-like cages onto the machines or metallic rollers attached to the machine in front to detect mines.

They continue searching for ways to protect the machines on the ground while offering real-time feedback on how ground robots perform in modern warfare.

AP video by Vasilisa Stepanenko