Ukraine captured 250 Russian troops in an extensive counter-attack using unmanned ‘zombie cars’ on the frontline for the first time.

The mission was part of Operation Vivaldi, which has seen the Ukrainian army employ a range of pioneering new tactics – including using bomber drones to drop ground robots deep inside Russian territory.

Cameras mounted on the ground robots captured one such surprise offensive, which resulted in 3,000 Russian soldiers being killed or wounded.

With the new zombie cars, Brig Gen Andriy Biletsky, the commander of the 3rd Army Corps, said his soldiers had taken back 68 square miles of land north of the city of Lyman in the latest stage of Operation Vivaldi.

During the mission, the 3rd Army Corps converted old Soviet-era BTR-60 armoured personnel carriers (APCs) into kamikaze unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), using them to decimate Russia’s most heavily fortified positions.

Entire units were forced to surrender as Ukrainian soldiers pushed forwards, including drone pilots, artillerymen and officers.

‘The enemy was deceived and missed the real strike,’ said Brig Gen Biletsky, adding that his troops had feinted towards one village before heading for Nove, another small settlement whose seizure provided a bridgehead for further advances.

The capture of 250 Russian prisoners of war marks one of the highest totals recorded for a single military operation.

While vehicles have long been converted into improvised explosive devices, new technology means there is no need for a driver to steer them towards the target in a ‘kamikaze’ attack.

Dramatic footage shows a 1960s-era armoured transporter that has been turned into a zombie car, speeding across a marshy landscape before exploding into a fireball.

Read More: Ukraine uses unmanned ‘zombie cars’ packed with explosives to decimate Russian frontline positions