Ukrainian officer drove through drone fire to rescue wounded comrades — Zelensky awards him Hero star

In the Kharkiv region, company commander Vladyslav Polskyi of the 475th Separate Assault Brigade personally drove wounded fellow soldiers out of an attack zone after their evacuation vehicle was struck by a Russian drone. For this act, on Tuesday — Ukraine's Independence Day — President Volodymyr Zelensky awarded the 29-year-old officer the title of Hero of Ukraine, the country's highest state honor, the presidential press service reported.

According to Ukraine's Ministry of Defense, which shared the story on X, Polskyi was monitoring the situation via a reconnaissance drone when his men, returning from the neutral zone in the Kharkiv region, came under fire from a Russian drone. An unmanned ground platform was supposed to retrieve the wounded, but it too was hit by Russian forces.

Fifteen kilometers under fire

Following that, the lieutenant, without any protective gear, drove out to reach the wounded in an unarmored pickup truck. At that moment, his men were separated from safe territory by 15 kilometers of road through the so-called "death zone" — an area exposed to enemy fire and closely monitored by drones. Despite the risk of another strike, Polskyi loaded both wounded soldiers into the truck bed and drove them to a safer area, where they received medical treatment, according to the Ukrainian outlet Suspilne.

"I saw the fear in their eyes, and I was scared too. But in situations like that, you have to keep yourself under control so you can act fast and save lives," Polskyi later told the outlet Mezha.

The rescue story quickly spread across social media and became a genuine viral sensation, with the officer's actions hailed as a powerful example of brotherhood and mutual support on the front line.

Source: novinky.cz