SkyFall, a Ukrainian defense technology company, said Monday its StarGate drone evacuated a wounded serviceman from a position inaccessible by land and that he was later taken to a hospital, in the unit’s third reported evacuation of this kind.
The 475th Separate Assault Regiment’s CODE 9.2 unit carried out the mission with SkyFall’s assistance. The company identified the 54-year-old as Andrii, call sign “Donbas,” and said a mine injured him Sept. 2. He had remained at his position for 57 days, SkyFall said.
The company said the team spent several days preparing an aerial pickup because terrain and mines blocked access by land, while shelling and repeated attacks by Russian first-person-view (FPV) drones added danger. SkyFall described the aircraft’s role as evacuating wounded troops from positions that ground or other transport cannot reach.
SkyFall said the drone flew more than 15 kilometers outbound to a position about two kilometers from the Russian border. The Associated Press (AP) reported that the company lists StarGate’s one-way range at 15 kilometers and its top speed at 105 kilometers per hour. The reported outbound distance exceeds that listed range.
CODE 9.2 had previously announced two StarGate evacuations over the course of a week. In October, Ukraine’s 92nd Separate Assault Brigade reported a separate evacuation using a different heavy drone, in a rescue previously covered by EconoTimes.
