Ukraine carries out first aerial drone evacuation of wounded soldier

DAILYMAIL.COM • 56m ago

By ANDREW JEHRING, CHIEF FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT and DMYTRO DURNYEV 14:34 19 Oct 2026, updated 14:53 19 Oct 2026

Ukraine has conducted the first ever unmanned aircraft evacuation of an injured soldier off the battlefield in the history of warfare.

The infantryman, callsign ‘Kostya’, was wounded while alone in position on the Kharkiv front deep in the east of the country.

He was surrounded by swarms of Russian kamikaze ‘first person view’ (FPV) drones that cannot be jammed and stuck in terrain that was heavily mined.

It meant they could not send an unmanned ground vehicle or team to rescue him so commanders turned to a new piece of kit – a heavily modified bomber drone.

Flanked by a fleet of smaller kamikaze drones and quadcopters armed with nets to snare enemy aircraft, the craft swooped in and landed beside him.

Incredible footage shows the serviceman from the 92nd Separate Assault Brigade strap himself to the Heavy Shot drone which was piloted by ‘Chornyi’ of the 30th Mechanised Brigade.

Clinging to a harness on the drone’s underbelly, the 80kg soldier is lifted into the sky and carried 18km (11 miles) away from the frontline to safety.

Unseen, the fleet of Ukrainian drones flank the craft on all sides looking out for Russian craft.

As he touches down, Squad Commander of 92nd Separate Assault Brigade’s Unmanned Systems Unit tells him over the radio from the command post: ‘Welcome back to earth’.

Speaking after the lift, Napalm said: ‘This is a historic event; it marks the next stage in the evacuation of the wounded, which we will all eventually reach.

‘Now the serious, systematic work begins to ensure that such missions take place on a regular basis.’

Describing Kostya, the drone commander said: ‘He was on his own at the position at the time, still carrying out his duties. He’s an incredibly strong person.

‘We stayed in constant contact with him, supplying him with medicine and provisions. The hero agreed to go through with it.

‘I don’t know what it must have been like there, hearing and seeing such a machine flying in.’

The Heavy Shot drone used on the mission was manufactured by Gurzuf Defence which holds the Ukrainian record for lifting 130kg. Dubbed the Ayudag after a mountain in Russian occupied Crimea, on missions it can carry 90kg up to 25km (16 miles).

‘It was an extremely dangerous and complicated operation, because the Russians actively hunt these aircraft,’ Roman Tsymbaliuk, a representative of the company, told the Mail.

‘Every available means was brought into the operation. The Ayudag served as the evacuation platform, while FPV kamikaze drones, drones equipped with throwable nets and other bombers provided protection for the man.

‘As always, there are only two possible outcomes: success or failure. This time, we succeeded.’

Gurzuf Defence gave the soldiers the heavy hexacopter free of charge which was modified to maintain stability and balance without overturning or swaying excessively.

Training videos shared with the Mail show them practising carrying human-sized weights on the underbelly.

Chornyi, who piloted the wounded soldier to safety, said: ‘We handed over special equipment to our comrade and recorded a video tutorial on how to use it.

‘I am very pleased that everything went well. The operation was well planned, and a great many people were involved.’

Kostya was successfully transported to the evacuation point and is currently receiving treatment and undergoing rehabilitation.

Gurzuf Defence CEO Pavlo Feldblyum, formerly one of the leaders of Moscow’s Jewish community, now manufactures drones for units across Ukraine.

This includes Azov and the Third Assault Brigade, which Russian propaganda accuses of being led by neo Nazis.

He said: ‘The Russian stories about antisemitism in Ukraine are nothing more than propaganda. We will stand together.’

Mr Tsymbaliuk explained they manufacture a range of drones.

‘There are three basic models,’ he said. ‘The first is the Immortal, which has our most advanced navigation system.

‘Then there is a lighter model called Zhvvyi in Ukrainian, which flies using Starlink. And then there is the standard Heavy Shot.

‘Beyond those three, the number of modifications is enormous. Even I don’t know the exact number of versions we have, because we often build them specifically around the requirements of a particular unit and the tasks it needs to perform.

‘The company is also developing models with increased payload capacity. One model that has already been officially approved by the Ministry of Defence and is now being produced on an industrial scale for orders from units across the military is the Ayudag-6.

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