Moscow responds to Ukraine obtaining western tanks by threatening ‘combat robot’ to burn them

The Kremlin has responded in ire to the news this week that western allies will be supplying Ukraine’s army with over 300 armored tanks to aid in the fight against the Russian invasion, and has escalated its threats to include the release of “combat robots” that can burn the tanks.

Russian state media revealed last weekend that it would be deploying these robots to the front lines of the war in Ukraine to engage with the western Leopard and Abrams tanks being supplied to Kyiv by the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and other western allies who agreed this week to send the tanks after months of deliberation. The robots, Russia claims, are designed to “obliterate” and “burn” the western tanks.

A Russian military adviser, Dmitry Rozogin, posted a warning on his Telegram account about the so-called “Marker” robots, saying the robots can spot a target from almost ten miles away, and are designed to fire upon those targets from afar. According to Russian news outlet Ria Novosti, development and testing on the Marker robots is complete  as of this week and the three-ton weapons are ready to assist the Russian military in Ukraine. 

The Markers are unmanned and equipped with machine guns and anti-tank missiles, as well as the ability to be outfitted with various weapons systems and sensors. Rozogin described the robots on Telegram in detail, saying, “The combat version of the Marker robot has an electronic catalog in the control system with images of targets both in the visible range and in the infrared. Accordingly, the robot can automatically determine the enemy’s equipment. For example, as soon as deliveries of the Abrams and Leopard tanks to the Ukrainian troops begin, Marker will receive an appropriate electronic image and be able to detect and hit American and German tanks with ATGMs automatically.”