Ukrainian drone evacuates a wounded soldier from the front line

The Ukrainian army has for the first time evacuated a wounded soldier from the front line using an unmanned aircraft. The 92nd Separate Assault Brigade named after Ivan Sirko and the company that developed the machine announced it on Monday on Telegram. According to the brigade, the soldier's life is not in danger.

The soldier was wounded at a combat position. Many Russian drones were in the air and the surrounding area was mined, so it was not possible to take him out on a robotic cart. A heavy bomber hexacopter was sent for the wounded man instead: a machine with six rotors and motors mounted on six arms.

“It was an extremely difficult operation, but it delivered results,” said a serviceman with the call sign Napalm, a programmer in the ground robotic systems company of the 92nd Brigade. According to him, the wounded man was “a tough guy.” Throughout the trip the rescuers were in contact with him and continuously monitored the situation in the air. The soldier endured the evacuation in a suspended seat well and is now undergoing treatment and rehabilitation.

The drone was built by the Ukrainian company Gurzuf Defence, founded in 2022, which specialises in strike unmanned systems for the front. According to the company, the evacuation took just over 1 hour 14 minutes, and the Ajudag-6 drone flew 62 kilometres during that time. “Heavy drones have so far delivered ammunition and cargo to the front line. Now the Ukrainian army has proved it can bring the most valuable thing out of the battlefield: people,” the company said.

Gurzuf Defence notes that it does not yet expect this kind of evacuation to become widespread: the risks to the wounded person in flight are too high. “Air evacuation is a last resort, when there is no other chance of saving a person,” the company stresses.

For the same purpose, another Ukrainian firm, Skyfall, developed an unmanned aircraft at the army's request, with a suspended stretcher and a medical cabin with a payload of up to 150 kilograms.

Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz