UKRAINE, KHARKIV OBLAST, Oct. 19 — Ukrainian forces conducted their first air drone evacuation of a wounded soldier from a position on the Kupiansk axis, the Kharkiv Military Hospital said.

Kostiantyn, 49, is an infantryman in the 30th mechanized brigade. Kostiantyn held the position alone after the Russians killed his brother-in-arms. Kostiantyn was later wounded in the Russian attacks and had both his legs amputated. Russian soldiers blocked all attempts to evacuate him, including efforts using ground drones.

The Russians also tried to pressure Kostiantyn into surrendering. They dropped a speaker from a drone and played a recording on a loop, calling on him to surrender, Kostiantyn recalls.

Kostiantyn, an evacuated wounded soldier / Photo: Kharkiv Military Hospital

Ukrainian troops continuously dropped food and medicine to the wounded soldier from drones, which allowed him to carry out combat missions and wait for evacuation.

The Ukrainian military used a heavy hexacopter, the Ayudag-6, also known as the Heavy Shot, manufactured by the Ukrainian company Gurzuf Defence for the 92nd assault brigade. Engineers and the military provided the Heavy Shot drone for free and adapted it for an evacuation mission.

This drone was designed to carry a person more than 15 kilometers (about 9.5 miles) through an area of constant aerial combat, one of the Gurzuf Defence directors said.

The 92nd and 30th brigades, the 14th Separate Mechanized Brigade, and the 10th Army Corps participated in the evacuation mission.

The Ukrainian military created a video tutorial showing Kostiantyn how to attach himself to the drone, monitored the entire flight via video call, and provided cover for the Heavy Shot drone against Russian attacks.

“Kostiantyn avoided suppuration or gangrene. By the time he arrived at our hospital, his wounds had already begun to granulate, which meant he had been taking antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs. Without this, he would probably die,” Volodymyr Kupriianchuk, the head of the surgical infections department of Kharkiv Military Hospital, said.

The hospital’s medical staff spent several days stabilizing Kostiantyn before he underwent several surgeries.

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