Historic Drone Evacuation Saves Ukrainian Soldier Trapped 491 Days
Discover how a heavy-lift hexacopter executed a historic drone evacuation in Ukraine, rescuing a wounded soldier after 491 days on the front line.
POLICY WIRE — Kyiv, Ukraine — In a groundbreaking battlefield operation, the Ukrainian military successfully evacuated a wounded infantryman from the front lines using an aerial drone for the first time in military history.
Soldier Kostiantyn Vlasenko endured a staggering 491 days trapped within the heavily contested and drone-dominated kill zone, facing relentless threats from Russian forces.
Following a severe Russian attack that cost him both of his feet, Vlasenko spent months concealing himself in a narrow hole and later a cramped concrete pipeline alongside a comrade named Baski.
Surrounded by relentless swarms of enemy drones and mines that completely blocked any possibility of a traditional ground rescue, Vlasenko took the extreme step of cutting off his own frostbitten leg to stay alive during more than 200 days of isolated survival.
The unprecedented extraction was made possible by a heavy-lift hexacopter, which navigated hostile airspace to airlift the severely injured infantryman to safety amidst declining troop numbers and intensifying aerial threats.
Footage published by the 92nd Assault Brigade captured the dramatic rescue operation, showing the specialized drone descending to the ground to retrieve the soldier in a modern display of wartime innovation.
Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)
