A wounded Ukrainian soldier is receiving treatment after troops lifted him from the front line by drone, the 92nd Separate Assault Brigade said, when an unmanned ground vehicle could not be used.
In its Oct. 19 announcement, the brigade said mines and Russian drone activity had prevented a ground evacuation. It released video of the rescue and said the soldier, who served with the 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade, was undergoing rehabilitation and was no longer in danger of dying.
The 92nd said its specialists worked with Ukrainian manufacturer Gurzuf Defence to adapt and test a heavy hexacopter capable of carrying a person. An operator from the 30th Brigade flew the mission. The 14th Separate Mechanized Brigade and 10th Army Corps also took part, according to the announcement.
Oboronka reported, citing interviews with participants, that the evacuation took place Oct. 4 in the Kupiansk sector. The brigade did not give a date or location for the mission.
The 92nd called it the world's first evacuation of a wounded soldier from a front-line position by aerial drone. That claim has not been independently verified. Lockheed Martin documented a casualty-evacuation demonstration using an unmanned K-MAX helicopter in 2015, though the test does not establish a previous rescue from an active front line.
Gurzuf Defence co-founder Pavlo Feldblium told Oboronka that each aerial evacuation needs its own preparation. He said the danger to a wounded person during flight makes it a last resort.
