Battlefield ingenuity: The Ukrainian military released extraordinary footage on Monday showing what it described as the world's first evacuation of a wounded soldier from the front line using an aerial drone. The "historic" mission comes at a sensitive time for Kyiv, which is facing a worrying deterioration in relations with Washington amid declining US support for its war against Russia.
The video, published Monday by Ukraine's 92nd Separate Assault Brigade, shows the soldier fastening himself to a large drone before being lifted into the air. He is then seen flying at a relatively low altitude over terrain that has been blurred in the footage, until the drone gently lowers him to the ground. "Welcome back to earth," the drone operator calls out as the soldier lands. The video also shows the blurred faces of the drone operators who carried out the mission.
According to the brigade, the infantryman, whose identity has not been disclosed, was wounded while manning his position. "Due to intense enemy drone activity and mined terrain, evacuation using conventional unmanned ground vehicles was impossible," the brigade said.
BREAKING: Ukraine has carried out the world's first medical evacuation of a human via a drone from the battlefield the 30th mechanised brigade of Ukraine managed to save their injured comrade from a minefield.
Just absolutely insane. https://t.co/TxcR5Lz0MG
— WarMonitor🇺🇦🇬🇧 (@WarMonitor3) October 19, 2026
"At that point, our unit's specialists decided to attempt something that had never been done before: evacuating a soldier using an aerial drone," it added.
The aircraft used in the rescue was a heavy-lift hexacopter, a drone equipped with six rotors, manufactured by Ukrainian company Gurzuf Defence. Originally designed to drop bombs, it was modified to carry wounded personnel. In the footage, the drone appears to be roughly twice the size of the soldier.
According to the unit, the specialists involved in the operation had to ensure that the drone could carry a person without tipping over or swaying dangerously in flight. The rescued soldier is now receiving medical treatment and undergoing rehabilitation, the brigade said.
The squad commander, who also serves as a programmer in the unit and goes by the call sign "Napalm," praised the wounded soldier as a "hero" for agreeing to the rescue attempt, "even though he saw and heard what kind of aircraft had come to evacuate him."
In a separate statement, Ukraine's Ground Forces said their drone units were already carrying out operations that "until recently were considered science fiction."
The war has increasingly become a technological arms race, with both Ukraine and Russia relying on drones to reduce human casualties. It has has taken a devastating toll on both militaries, although neither side publishes up-to-date figures on its dead, wounded or missing personnel. Ukraine, in particular, has struggled with severe manpower shortages while attempting to accelerate recruitment.
This year, Ukraine has made significant advances in drone technology, enabling its forces to disrupt Russian logistics in occupied territories and launch strikes deep inside Russia, targeting oil refineries, commercial warehouses and data centers.
