‘My biggest fear was being shot down’: how an injured Ukrainian soldier was evacuated by drone
A 25-year-old Ukrainian soldier was airlifted from the frontlines by a massive drone after being trapped for eight days, marking a new development in the war.
Artem Lytvyn was trapped by Russian forces for eight days before a specialised drone rescued him from a minefield. The mission involved a complex diversion and a 18-mile flight, highlighting Ukraine's rapid drone innovation.
Lytvyn, a 25-year-old soldier in the 129th brigade, was on a five-day trek to a dangerous position in the Kharkiv region when he stepped on a magnet-type mine. His rifle detonated the device, blowing off his right foot and killing his comrade Siava.
Evacuating casualties from the frontline has become a deadly task since Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion. Armoured vehicles are now too risky due to constant drone attacks, leaving soldiers to endure months in dugouts without rotation.
Failed ground rescue
Lytvyn's brigade tried to rescue him using remote-controlled land robots, but all four became stuck in the difficult terrain of rivers, muddy fields, and a forest of oaks and aspens. A 10-person stretcher party covered just 6.8 miles in five days.
With no prospect of rescue, Lytvyn requested a crutch to try to hobble out himself. He fell over immediately when he tried to stand, a moment that changed when his radio crackled with news of a rescue plan.
Aerial rescue mission
The ‘bird’ was a StarGate aerial evacuation drone, a massive unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) built by the Ukrainian company SkyFall. It can carry a 150kg payload and is suspended beneath six powerful black rotor blades.
The mission was complex and risky. The drone was conspicuous and a tempting target for Russia's elite Rubicon drone force, which could either bring it down or jam its GPS system.
Pilots from the 475th Separate Assault regiment plotted the route for a week. The drone was fitted with an AI navigation module to continue on a mapped route if its GPS was scrambled.
New era of drone warfare
Eight days after his injury, at 3am on 21 October, Lytvyn heard the drone's whirring. He crawled into the capsule, lit a cigarette, and closed the hatch as the drone took off. His biggest fear was being shot down.
The drone flew low over a night-time landscape, escorted by Vampire drones that bombarded Russian positions to create a diversion. It landed 20 minutes later in a clearing, where soldiers carried Lytvyn into a cellar.
The soldier was treated for maggots in his untreated wound and later flown to an operating theatre in Kharkiv, where surgeons amputated his leg at the knee. He is now recuperating in a military hospital in Lviv.
‘What happened to me is a miracle. I rose into the heavens,’ Lytvyn said.
Production and future
SkyFall plans to produce 1,000 StarGate drones a month by the end of the year. The company also manufactures heavy bombers, mid-range strike drones, and a high-speed interceptor.
The rescue of Lytvyn follows the successful evacuation of two other soldiers by drone. Kostiantyn Vlasenko was the first to be airlifted after 491 days at his position, and Andriy 'Donbas' was rescued last week.
Lytvyn, who has no regrets about the mission, wants to recover and spend time with his seven-year-old daughter, Mia. The war has evolved into an all-out drone battle, characterised by competition and rapid technical innovation.
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