Ukraine Conducts First Medical Drone Evacuation

Ukraine’s military has achieved a milestone by conducting a front-line medical evacuation using an aerial drone. As the conflict with Russia approaches its fifth year, the Ukrainian Ground Forces’ 92nd Assault Brigade announced that a wounded soldier was successfully evacuated from the front line utilizing a heavy-lift aerial drone.

For close to 500 days, soldier Konstantyn Vlasenko from the 30th Separate Brigade was stranded in a position inaccessible to Ukrainian ground forces due to dense mining and the presence of Russian drones. Reports from Ukrainian news outlets revealed that Vlasenko was injured by a Russian drone and, while trapped, performed partial self-amputations on both legs in anticipation of rescue.

A Gurzuf Defence heavy hexacopter, initially designed for attacking with bombs, was repurposed for the rescue operation. The drone, provided free of charge, was modified collaboratively with the company to transport a person securely. The rescue plan was meticulously tested prior to execution.

The operation involved four Ukrainian brigades and took seven days of preparation. The rescue itself was completed in approximately one hour and fifteen minutes with the drone covering nearly 40 miles. Ukrainian units employed additional drones to divert Russian military attention during the operation.

An image from video shared with CBS News by the Ukrainian Ground Forces’ 92nd Assault Brigade shows a wounded soldier being carried by an aerial drone during a medical evacuation operation.

Pavlo Feldbloom, co-founder of Gurzuf Defence, told CBS News that the company did not initially design the platform for evacuations but recognized its potential for such missions. He emphasized that while the platform can carry out rescues, aerial evacuation should not become a widespread practice due to high risks for the wounded in the air.

Before attempting the aerial evacuation, there was an effort to rescue Vlasenko using a ground drone, a method also developed by Ukrainian forces. However, this attempt was thwarted when the ground drone was destroyed in transit. Upon landing, Vlasenko described the aerial evacuation as calm and expressed relief at reaching safe ground.