[chris]

Ukraine's 92nd Separate Assault Brigade, named after Ivan Sirko, said on October 19, 2026, that its Unmanned Ground Systems Company had rescued a wounded soldier from the front line using a heavy drone in what it called the world's first aerial evacuation of its kind.

The wounded man, an infantryman of Ukraine's 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade, was hit while at his position. The brigade said heavy Russian drone activity and mined ground prevented evacuation by unmanned ground vehicles, which have become the usual way to evacuate casualties. The unit decided to lift him out with a flying drone, saying no one had done it before.

The aircraft was a heavy hexacopter built as a bomber drone by Ukrainian company Gurzuf Defence, which provided it free of charge. The brigade said its specialists worked with the manufacturer to modify it to carry a person while remaining stable, without flipping over or swinging too much. They conducted test flights at sites provided by Gurzuf Defence and planned the mission with neighboring units. A drone operator from the 30th Brigade flew the mission.

The brigade said the operation succeeded and the rescued soldier is undergoing treatment and rehabilitation, with his life no longer in danger. It named the participants as the 92nd Assault Brigade, the 30th and 14th Separate Mechanized Brigades, the 10th Army Corps and Gurzuf Defence. The operation's date and location were not disclosed.

A squad leader and programmer in the company, known by the call sign Napalm, said: "This is a historic event, at least for our unit for sure." Napalm called the wounded soldier a hero for agreeing to the flight after seeing and hearing the machine sent to retrieve him.

Days earlier, Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi said the government had approved an experimental project to use drones for medical logistics, carrying medicines, blood samples and donor organs between hospitals.

The brigade's video release runs about two and a half minutes and is in Ukrainian with Ukrainian subtitles; it opens with a title card and interviews with Napalm and other drone team members in their command post. Footage from a camera worn by the wounded soldier shows him clipping himself into a harness hanging beneath the drone, followed by shots of him being carried under the hexacopter low over open ground and set down. Some faces and parts of the terrain are blurred, and the video ends with credits listing the units involved.

[yah]

The Ukrainians never cease to amaze.

[gimlet]

chris, the broadly based humanitarian who put Reality into the Internet, now brings us the first ever life saving evacuation flight by model airplane! I wish it had subtitles, I would love to know how far he flew and altitude. I would prefer to fly in the dark, you might attract all kinds of small arms fire. I hope you can carry your assault rifle on the flight so you can shoot back. After a while, soldiers will strap that machine on to fly around the battlefield strafing the enemy, powered attack armor...