Estonia’s Milrem Robotics is assessing the possibility of producing several of its unmanned platforms in Ukraine, a move that could put the company’s Emirati owners in a tricky position vis-à-vis the Gulf country’s ties to Russia.

At the First International Defense Industries Forum, held in Kyiv last month, Milrem announced that it had signed a cooperation agreement with local companies to facilitate the move. On the table is local manufacturing of Milrem’s THeMIS robot in the combat, engineering and casualty evacuation configurations.

As of this month, Milrem has delivered 15 THeMIS unmanned vehicles to Ukraine’s forces, the company said in a Jan. 11 statement.

Executives claim that vehicles are performing well, particularly in demining and cargo transport missions, based on frontline feedback.

“The UGVs are being used to clear areas from anti-tank mines as well as unexploded ordnances, transporting equipment to areas not accessible to conventional vehicles or where risk of losing that equipment is high,” Jüri Pajuste, who is in charge of the Ukrainian program at Milrem Robotics, was quoted as saying in the statement.