Ukraine's Hurt Troops Now Rescued by 'Incredible Little Birds'

Ukraine's military has begun using specialized aerial rescue drones to evacuate wounded soldiers from the battlefield, carrying two stranded troops to safety near the Russian border in the first such operations, an elite military unit said on Monday. The AP reports that the newly developed StarGate drone, a six-rotor aircraft fitted with an enclosed evacuation capsule, was used in two separate missions over the past week, according to the 475th Separate Assault Regiment. One of the rescued servicemen, a 24-year-old from the 1st Territorial Defense Brigade, says he waited two days to be evacuated and was unable to walk 12 miles out of the combat zone.

"The injury tore off half of my foot, so a lot of blood was lost already," he said in a video interview from his hospital room. "I think if that incredible little bird hadn't flown in ... getting out from there would have been unrealistic." The 475th regiment, also known as Code 9.2, had tested StarGate for several weeks before deploying it on the battlefield. It said both rescued men had sustained "severe limb injuries and were at positions in the gray zone, approximately ... 3 miles from the state border with Russia," referring to a strip of territory separating Ukrainian and Russian forces.

The drone was designed to evacuate injured soldiers from high-risk areas where heavy artillery fire and hostile drone activity make rescue operations dangerous. Developed by Ukrainian tech firm SkyFall, the drone is intended to reduce rescue times from hours to minutes, reaching hard-to-access combat zones that are currently served by unmanned ground vehicles. SkyFall says the drone can carry up to 330 pounds and is equipped with signal jammers and autonomous navigation to counter Russian electronic warfare systems. More here.