Ukrainian Soldier Rescued from Front Line in Historic Drone Evacuation
A Ukrainian soldier wounded in the Kharkiv region was successfully evacuated from the front line using a heavy-lift drone after surviving 491 days alone in an isolated position.
A Historic Evacuation on the Front Line
In a groundbreaking rescue operation in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine, a wounded soldier was evacuated directly from the battlefield using a heavy-lift aerial drone. Kostiantyn Vlasenko, a 49-year-old infantryman from the 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade, survived for 491 days in an isolated combat position near the Oskil River in the Kupiansk sector. His ordeal began in June 2025, but intense Russian drone activity and heavily mined terrain made conventional relief or ground evacuation impossible.
Following a deadly drone attack in February 2026 that killed his comrade, Vlasenko was left entirely alone, severely wounded in both legs, and suffering from frostbite and gangrene. Demonstrating extraordinary resilience, he maintained contact with his commanders while receiving food, water, and medicine dropped via small drones. When conventional ground evacuation failed, military specialists devised an unprecedented aerial rescue plan using a heavy hexacopter manufactured by Ukrainian company Gurzuf Defence.
"A historic event has taken place - an evacuation from the front line using a flying drone," said Napalm, a squad leader and programmer with the Unmanned Ground Systems Company of the 92nd Assault Brigade.
The Rescue Operation
Vlasenko crawled to the landing zone, strapped himself into specialized rescue harnesses provided by the drone team, and was lifted nearly 120 meters into the air, hanging beneath the heavy-lift aircraft. The grueling aerial transport lasted for over an hour before transferring him to an unmanned ground vehicle for final transit to medical care. Military officials confirmed this is the first successful combat evacuation of a wounded soldier using an aerial drone.
