Ukraine Conducts First Aerial Drone Evacuation of Wounded Soldier
Ukrainian forces used a modified heavy-lift hexacopter to rescue a wounded soldier from the Kharkiv front lines after ground evacuation became impossible.
Ukrainian forces performed the first aerial drone evacuation of a wounded soldier in the Kharkiv region. The operation rescued an infantryman, callsign Kostya, who was trapped by land mines and Russian kamikaze drones, rendering ground rescue impossible.
Gurzuf Defence provided a modified Heavy Shot AYUDAG 6 hexacopter free of charge to lift the 80kg soldier via a harness. The mission was a joint effort involving the 92nd Separate Assault Brigade, 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade, 14th Mechanized Brigade, and the 10th Army Corps. To prevent Russian interception, a fleet of smaller kamikaze and net-armed drones escorted the heavy-lift aircraft.
Reports on the distance covered vary, with one source stating the mission spanned nearly 40 miles over 75 minutes, while another reports the soldier was carried 18km. The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine has since approved the Ayudag-6 for industrial production, reporting a threefold increase in robotic evacuation missions as the military seeks to replace human rescuers in high-risk zones.
