From basement to battlefield: Ukrainian startups create low-cost robots to fight Russia

Associated Press

NORTHERN UKRAINE (AP) — Ukraine hopes to find a strategic edge against Russia in drones built in abandoned warehouses or factory basements. An ecosystem of versatile laboratories hidden in hundreds of secret workshops is leveraging technological innovation. Ukraine hopes to kill Russian troops or save wounded soldiers and civilians with a robot army. Some 250 defense startups across Ukraine are creating the killing machines from the bottom up. That’s often at remote, hidden locations that typically look like rural car repair shops. Dozens of new unmanned air, ground and marine vehicles are awaiting assessment as Ukraine accelerates its no-frills startup sector. Production methods are far removed from those of giant Western defense companies.