In Rural Russia, a Robot Named Yulka Is Feeding the Cows

Smart farming gets a personal touch—with a robot you can control from your phone

In the rolling farmlands of Perm Krai, Russia, agricultural innovation is taking an unexpectedly charming turn. Meet Yulka—a robot designed not for warehouses or battlefields, but for feeding cows.

Developed by Russian engineers with farmers in mind, Yulka isn’t just about automation; it’s about usability. Operators don’t need to wade through complex software. A single mobile app is all it takes to command the robot from a smartphone. This design choice makes the tech more accessible to small and mid-sized farms where IT expertise might be limited.

The developers say Yulka is only the beginning. A robotic milker is already on the roadmap, aimed at large-scale agricultural operations where labor shortages are a persistent challenge.

Yulka enters a growing ecosystem of digital farming tools in Russia. One example is “MOLOKO 2.0,” a homegrown smart system that monitors herd performance. It analyzes feed impact on milk yield, tracks animal health, and even offers data-driven advice on nutrition, breeding, and calving. It’s also used for reporting and long-term farm planning.

As Russia pushes toward agricultural self-sufficiency and smarter food production, tools like Yulka suggest the future of farming may be just a swipe away.