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Ukraine rescues wounded soldier using drone in daring 'world's first' UAV evacuation of a human — heavy-lift hexacopter carried injured 176-pound soldier 11 miles back to safety from minefield
In heavily mined terrain and surrounded by Russian kamikaze drones, 'Kostya' was hoisted by a Gurzuf Defence heavy UAV and guarded to safety by a fleet of smaller drones.
The Ukrainian military is claiming a world’s first after using an unmanned drone to rescue an injured soldier on the eastern Kharkiv front. Ukraine’s United24 news shared a video of the historic first. It also explained that the wounded infantryman was stuck in a heavily mined area, guarded by Russian kamikaze drones.
🔴 HISTORIC FIRST: Ukrainian forces completed the first-ever aerial evacuation of an injured soldier from the frontline using a drone.
Soldiers from the 92nd Assault Brigade and 30th Mechanized Brigade used a heavy Gurzuf Defence hexacopter to rescue the wounded infantryman from a heavily mined area.October 19, 2026
The above video starts with the Ukrainian drone locating the soldier, callsign ‘Kostya,’ in enemy territory. Various media reports suggest he was 11 miles (18km) behind enemy lines, at the mercy of Russian kamikaze drones, and perilously located in a minefield. Traditional land-based rescue was therefore not possible, but Kostya bravely agreed to be part of the first-ever human drone-lift rescue plan.
After being located, the injured infantryman clipped himself into a harness. He said, “That’s it, we can take off,” when he was fully buckled into the rudimentary-looking harness. UAV operator, callsign ‘Black’ from the 20th Mechanized Battalion, 30th Infantry Brigade, then appeared in the video and explained: “We were constantly in touch with him."
Being in constant touch with the operations HQ would have been reassuring. However, the surrounding presence of a fleet of Ukrainian support drones, both kamikaze devices and UAVs with anti-drone nets, was probably most comforting.
Eventually dropping back into safe(r) territory, after what must have been an arduous, nerve-wracking journey, control said, “Congratulations, you’re on the ground,” to Kostya, as he touched down in a field. Then the control room erupted into applause. They got their man back safely, and he is now being treated and is in recovery.
UAV operator ‘Black’ was delighted with the concerted efforts that brought back this wounded soldier. “A lot of people were involved, and everything worked out for us,” he said. Importantly, this may be the start of a whole new system of personnel evacuations for wounded and/or stranded soldiers using drone technology, indicated brigade leader ‘Napalm’ toward the end of the video.
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Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.
I saw it coming, but regardless it is an incredible achievement. Can't think that it would become very common, as those are easier to take down than a heli. One has to do that as a surprise.
