The Ukrainian military has used a heavy aerial drone to airlift a wounded soldier from the front line in the first known operation of its kind.
The Ground Forces’ Drone Force led the operation alongside the 92nd Separate Assault Brigade named after Ivan Sirko, according to the brigade’s press office, which announced the operation on Monday.
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It said the wounded soldier was an infantryman from the 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade, injured at his position in an unnamed frontline sector. It’s unclear when the operation took place.
The press release calls the rescue a “historic operation” as it marks the first time an aerial drone is used to airlift wounded troops to safety.
The brigade ruled out the usual option, a ground robotic system (UGV), adding that Russian drones were active and the terrain was mined, rendering the use of a UGV impossible.
Specialists from the 92nd Brigade’s unmanned ground systems company then used a heavy hexacopter made by Ukrainian manufacturer Gurzuf Defence, which the brigade said had provided it free of charge.
The brigade wrote that its engineers worked with the manufacturer to keep the drone steady in flight, without flipping or swinging excessively, in order to airlift the soldier
They tested it at sites provided by Gurzuf Defence and planned the mission with neighboring units.
A drone operator from the 30th brigade flew the drone. The 92nd brigade said the rescued soldier is receiving treatment and rehabilitation. It was stated that his life is no longer in danger.
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The 92nd brigade thanked the 30th and 14th mechanized brigades, the 10th Army Corps and Gurzuf Defence for making the operation possible.
Ukraine’s previous rescues using ground drones
Until now, ground robots have largely handled evacuations from positions cut off by active fighting.
In one case that drew presidential awards for the 1st Separate Medical Battalion, a soldier had spent 33 days wounded in a village under Russian control before a UGV reached him. The machine hit an anti-personnel mine on the way but kept moving on a damaged wheel.
The 1st Separate Medical Battalion is now sharing its methods abroad. In September, its combat medics took an armored UGV, the MAUL made by Ukrainian company AIDronesUA, to Sweden. There they met medics from the Swedish Armed Forces’ Livgardet (Lifeguards) regiment.
The battalion used the machine to show how ground robots have changed their ability to reach casualties in the “kill zone,” the corridor between the front lines where strikes, especially by drones, make a conventional evacuation impossible.
Battalion commander Asan Charuhov said every mission requires careful preparation that accounts for the casualty’s condition, the terrain and the combat situation. He added that some of the people evacuated by UGV might not have been evacuated at all by any other means.
Sweden’s commander-in-chief, General Michael Claesson, said the experience and innovation shared by the Ukrainian medics would strengthen his own forces’ ability to operate on the modern battlefield.
The 92nd Brigade’s mission tackles the same problem: a wounded soldier trapped in a zone too dangerous to enter, but from the air rather than the ground.
Gurzuf Defence is best known for its Heavy Shot bomber drones, produced in tens of thousands per year. In a March interview with Ukrainska Pravda, the company said its heavy drones could later evacuate the wounded from the battlefield.
The new mission suggests the air could become a second evacuation route when the ground is too dangerous.
Anastasiia Bzova is journalist covering politics, culture and current affairs. She focuses on delivering accurate, accessible reporting that helps readers understand the issues shaping their opinions.