KHARKIV: Ukrainian forces used a heavy-lift drone to rescue wounded soldier Kostiantyn Vlasenko on October 4, commanders said. Vlasenko, 49, had spent 491 days at a frontline position in the Kharkiv region.
Ukrainian commanders described the mission as the first known aerial drone rescue of a soldier. Vlasenko said a Russian drone attack in February killed his comrade and badly wounded both his legs.
He lost his left foot in the attack. About three months later, he said he amputated his badly injured right foot after his condition worsened. “I had already buried myself,” Vlasenko told Reuters from a hospital in Kharkiv.
Reuters said Ukrainian military accounts and drone footage backed key parts of his story. It could not independently verify every detail.
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Commanders first tried a ground evacuation. An officer said Russian drones destroyed two unmanned vehicles sent towards Vlasenko.
They then turned to the Ayudag-6 heavy-lift drone made by Gurzuf Defense. A supply drone delivered a harness and a phone with instructions before the rescue.
Vlasenko later attached himself to a winch beneath the aircraft. The six-rotor drone lifted him to 70 meters and carried him 15km to safety. Three smaller drones escorted the rescue craft. Ukrainian forces used them to distract Russian drones during the flight.
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Vlasenko is recovering in hospital in Kharkiv. Ukrainian forces rescued wounded soldier Kostiantyn Vlasenko with a heavy-lift drone after 491 days at a frontline position.
