Ukraine’s First Drone Airlift Rescues Soldier Stranded for 18 Months
Ukraine’s 92nd Separate Assault Brigade successfully executed the world’s first frontline aerial evacuation of a wounded soldier using a heavy hexacopter drone. The operation, which took 74 minutes to cover 39 miles, rescued a serviceman from the 30th Mechanized Brigade who had been stranded for nearly 500 days due to Russian drone threats and landmines. This marks a shift from ground-based rescue attempts to aerial logistics, though experts warn it remains a high-risk last resort.
