Drone Carries Two Wounded Soldiers From Grey Zone Near Russian Border

Ukraine's 475th Separate Assault Regiment, also known as CODE 9.2, moved two wounded soldiers out of a contested strip of land using an aerial drone within the past week. Yevhen, 25, alias Izium, and Artem, 24, alias Kolobok, suffered severe limb injuries and were positioned about 5 km from the Russian border.

The regiment said ground evacuation could not be done because of rough ground, water obstacles and the threat from Russian FPV drones. It stated that flying the men out was the only way to save them. Preparations for the lifts ran for a week and involved SkyFall, the company that built the drone, along with fire support and coordination across other Ukrainian defence forces. Vampire attack drones struck Russian positions during the work.

CODE 9.2 reported that one StarGate flight covered nearly 30 km to reach the serviceman, then returned roughly the same distance with him aboard. Russian electronic warfare systems in the area tried to cut satellite navigation signals. The drone flew on an AI-based navigation system, which let the mission proceed without satellite positioning.

SkyFall built StarGate to carry casualties and gave the machine to the military for frontline testing. The drone has a range of up to 30 km, a payload of up to 150 kg and a top speed of 105 km/h. It is flown remotely, and for casualty work it carries a medical capsule with a stretcher. Its AI systems let it operate without GPS and under electronic warfare interference.

Oleksandr "Flint" Nastenko, commander of the 475th Separate Assault Regiment, said the drone work will help the unit set up a medical aviation section. "It will specialise specifically in evacuating wounded soldiers from the battlefield by air," Nastenko said. On 19 October, the military reported using an aerial drone to evacuate a wounded soldier for the first time in a separate operation that employed a device from the Ukrainian company Gurzuf Defence.