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Ukraine's 475th Separate Assault Regiment Code 9.2 evacuated two severely wounded soldiers from the battlefield using a domestically developed aerial evacuation drone, StarGate, the unit reported on Oct. 26.
The two soldiers, 25-year-old Yevhen, call sign "Izium," and 24-year-old Artem, call sign "Kolobok," had suffered severe limb injuries and were stranded in a contested area about five kilometers (three miles) from the Russian border.
Ground evacuation was impossible due to difficult terrain, water obstacles, and the threat of Russian first-person-view (FPV) drones, the regiment said.
The two evacuation missions were carried out over the course of a week in cooperation with SkyFall, the Ukrainian company that developed and manufactures StarGate.
The operations required coordination between several units and fire support from heavy Vampire attack drones to suppress Russian positions.
During one mission, StarGate flew nearly 30 kilometers (20 miles) to reach a wounded soldier and approximately the same distance back with him aboard.
Russian electronic warfare systems attempted to jam satellite navigation signals in the area, but the drone completed the evacuation using its AI-based navigation system and the pilots' skills, according to the regiment.
Oleksandr Nastenko, commander of the 475th Separate Assault Regiment, said the unit plans to use the experience to train additional crews and make aerial evacuations a regular practice.
The operations come a week after Ukrainian forces reported what they described as a first-of-its-kind aerial evacuation of a severely wounded soldier who had spent nearly 500 days at a front-line position, using a drone.