Ukraine Drone Evacuation: Heavy Hexacopter Flies Wounded Soldier 62 km From Front Line

Featured image: A Ukrainian heavy hexacopter drone of the “Baba Yaga” class, shown for illustration; not the aircraft used in the evacuation. Photo: Ukrainian Ground Forces / 3rd Assault Brigade via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0).

Ukraine says it has carried out the first drone evacuation of a wounded soldier from a front-line position, using a heavy-lift hexacopter to fly an injured infantryman about 62 kilometers (39 miles) to safety. The 92nd Separate Assault Brigade released video of the mission on Monday, Oct. 19, 2026, and the drone’s maker, Gurzuf Defence, called it an “unprecedented mission.”

The Ukrainian military did not say when the operation took place or on which section of the front, according to the Kyiv Independent. The soldier, an infantryman with the 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade, is receiving treatment and rehabilitation, and his life is no longer in danger, the brigade said.

Why a ground rescue was ruled out

Ukrainian units usually move wounded troops out of the most dangerous zones with unmanned ground vehicles, small robotic carts steered remotely to the casualty. In this case, the 92nd Brigade said intense Russian drone activity and mined terrain made that impossible. “Due to intense enemy drone activity and the presence of landmines, evacuation using conventional unmanned ground vehicles was impossible,” the brigade said in a post quoted by NBC News.

According to Gurzuf Defence, the soldier had spent nearly 500 days at the position. Fellow troops kept in contact with him and supplied food, water, ammunition and medicine by drone before he was badly hurt.

How the hexacopter drone evacuation worked

The aircraft was a Heavy Shot Ayudag-6, a large six-rotor drone that Gurzuf Defence originally built as a bomber. The company provided it free of charge, the brigade said, as reported by Militarnyi.

Before the flight, specialists from the 92nd Brigade’s unmanned ground systems company worked with the manufacturer so the drone could carry a person without swaying or rolling over, and ran a series of tests at the company’s sites. The team first flew in equipment with carabiners. A second flight brought the drone fitted with a winch, and the soldier, guided remotely by comrades, attached himself to the system.

A drone operator from the 30th Brigade flew the aircraft. The mission lasted 1 hour, 14 minutes and 36 seconds, and the company said it required close monitoring of the airspace and electronic warfare protection for the whole flight. Other soldiers met the casualty at a safer position and moved him on to a hospital.

“An extremely complex operation, but a successful one. This is a historic event,” said a 92nd Brigade programmer who uses the call sign “Napalm.” He added: “Now the serious, systematic work begins to ensure that such missions take place on a regular basis.”

A last resort, the manufacturer says

Gurzuf Defence co-founder Pavlo Feldblium cautioned against treating aerial evacuation as routine, pointing to the risks for an injured person in flight. Each mission would need to be planned for its specific circumstances and location, he said. “Air rescue is a last resort when there is no other way to save a person,” Feldblium said.

The operation brought together the 92nd Brigade, the 30th and 14th Mechanized Brigades, the 10th Army Corps and Gurzuf Defence, according to the Kyiv Post, which reported that the Ground Forces’ Drone Force also led the effort.

Drones have become central to the fighting on both sides of the front, from long-range strikes such as the drone attack that set a St. Petersburg oil terminal on fire to the small first-person-view aircraft that make movement near the line so dangerous. Our drone warfare guide explains the main types and the defenses against them.

Additional details

• Aircraft figures: Ukrainska Pravda, as cited by the Kyiv Independent, reported that the Heavy Shot Ayudag-6 platform weighs about 98 kilograms (215 pounds), can carry 70 to 90 kilograms (150 to 200 pounds), and operates at 150 to 300 meters. The same report gave its flight range as up to 25 kilometers, a figure that differs from the 62-kilometer distance given for the mission; the outlets did not explain the difference.
• Production: Gurzuf Defence is best known for its Heavy Shot bomber drones, which the Kyiv Post said are produced in tens of thousands per year. In a March interview with Ukrainska Pravda, the company said its heavy drones could later be used to evacuate the wounded.
• Video: NBC News said the footage shows the soldier being lowered to the ground and a drone operator greeting him with “Welcome back to the ground!” Faces of the operators are blurred. The Associated Press also published the brigade’s video.
• Context: The mission was announced in a week of heavy Russian strikes, including the missile attack that cut power to 550,000 homes in Kyiv.

Sources

• Kyiv Independent: Ukraine evacuates wounded soldier from front line by drone for first time
• Militarnyi: First evacuation by hexacopter
• NBC News: Ukraine claims world’s first drone evacuation of wounded soldier
• Kyiv Post: Wounded Ukrainian soldier airlifted by heavy drone
• AP News video: 92nd Assault Brigade claims first battlefield air evacuation by drone