Ukrainian Drone Flies Wounded Soldier Out of Combat Zone in World First Rescue Mission

Ukraine has achieved a new unprecedented military milestone using unmanned systems: the first drone evacuation of a wounded soldier in combat history.The rescue operation unfolded on the eastern Kharkiv front, where an infantryman with the callsign “Kostya” was stranded alone after being wounded. Surrounded by enemy kamikaze drones and trapped in heavily mined terrain, a ground evacuation was deemed too dangerous. Commanders turned instead to a heavily modified bomber drone known as the Heavy Shot.Footage of the mission shows the soldier, a member of the 92nd Separate Assault Brigade, strapping himself into a harness beneath the drone, which was piloted remotely by a serviceman with the callsign “Chornyi” from the 30th Mechanized Brigade. Shielded by a protective fleet of smaller drones, the aircraft lifted the 175-pound soldier and carried him 11 miles to safety.As he landed, the squad commander radioed: “Welcome back to earth.”The brigade’s leader, callsign Napalm, called the mission a turning point. “This is a historic event; it marks the next stage in the evacuation of the wounded, which we will all eventually reach,” he said. “Now the serious, systematic work begins to ensure that such missions take place on a regular basis.”He praised Kostya’s composure under pressure: “He was on his own at the position at the time, still carrying out his duties. He’s an incredibly strong person.”The Heavy Shot drone, built by Gurzuf Defense and nicknamed the Ayudag, holds Ukraine’s record for lift capacity, capable of carrying up to 285 kg. Kostya is now undergoing treatment and rehabilitation after reaching the evacuation point safely.The rescue follows another landmark operation revealed by President Volodymyr Zelensky: the world’s first fully robotic assault on an enemy position, carried out by the 3rd Assault Brigade in Kharkiv Oblast last year. Mr. Zelensky noted that Ukraine has carried out 22,000 missions using robotic vehicles in the past three months alone, as robots increasingly take over roles once held by soldiers.Footage of the assault shows a suicide drone detonating inside a fortified Russian dugout, followed by a remote-controlled vehicle nicknamed “Targan” — Ukrainian for “cockroach” — which parked outside and detonated its own mine. Two surviving Russian soldiers surrendered to a hovering drone and were guided to Ukrainian lines. No shots were fired during the operation.“We managed to take that tree line, including all the defensive positions, in literally 15 minutes,” said the Targan operator involved, The Spectator reported. “This was achieved without a single casualty, without a single shot being fired.”Unmanned systems commander Mykola “Makar” Zinkevych said more than 50 similar operations have since been conducted. Still, officer Oleksandr Sukhoi urged caution against overstating the technology’s reach: “UGVs can reach positions, but they cannot hold them. Holding ground still requires humans.” He described the shift as “a gradual evolution,” not a revolution, in modern warfare.

Ukrainian Drone Flies Wounded Soldier Out of Combat Zone in World First Rescue Mission

Ukrainian Drone Flies Wounded Soldier Out of Combat Zone in World First Rescue Mission

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