A Ukrainian soldier wounded and surrounded by Russian troops made a heroic escape straight from the A-Team after having an e-bike delivered by a drone.
A video uploaded by the NATO-trained Rubizh brigade appears to show the drone hovering above the man, stranded behind enemy lines, slowly hauling the bike down to him. After unhooking the bicycle, the man is seen cycling away through the thick foliage.
The Rubizh unit claims three of its personnel were killed during the operation, which took place in Siversk, northern Ukraine, as Vladimir Putin continues to press on to cut off supply routes used by Ukrainian troops in the east, and create a buffer zone inside Ukraine’s northern borders.
After the deaths of his fellow troops, the soldier in the video, callsign ‘Tanker’, who had sustained a leg injury, is said to have held down the position on his own for several days.
“Our drones covered us from above as best as they could,” Tanker explained, speaking to the camera in the clip, adding, “Then they threw two gas cylinders straight into our hole and a lighter. We caught fire.”
“Every day, I was surrounded, from all sides. I fought back as best I could.”
It was then decided that an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) would be used to airlift an e-bike and provide an escape route for the soldier.
The ingenious move marks another advancement in how drone warfare has shaped the frontlines across Ukraine, intensifying on both sides since the start of the year.
Most notably for Ukraine, as part of Operation Spiderweb, a complex coordinated drone strike across six Russian airfields targeting long-range bomber assets.
While for Russia, drone and missile strikes have risen by more than 605% since the turn of the year, according to NBC, with tens of thousands of projectiles fired at targets deep into Ukraine, away from the conventional frontlines, in what Ukrainian officials have likened to a terror campaign designed to unsettle civilians.
A Russian drone attack on Kyiv, on Thursday (July 31), killed at least 14 people, including a six-year-old boy, and injured at least 145 people, including 14 children, the youngest being a five-month-old girl, according to Ukraine’s Emergency Service.
Ukrainian forces have utilised UAVs as a means to navigate behind enemy lines without risking human casualties.
Mykola Gritsenko, a chief of staff in the Rubizh brigade, stated, “It was impossible to drive up with equipment because the enemy was everywhere,” when describing the e-bike rescue.
“He couldn’t get out on his own either, because he had to walk 1.5km to the nearest position. In his condition, with his injuries and lower limbs, he simply wouldn’t have made it.”
Two unsuccessful attempts were made to deliver the bicycle to the wounded soldier, according to the brigade, but in both instances, the vehicle was shot down and the drone’s motor burned out.
After successfully pulling off the mission, Tanker rode the bike for 400m before hitting a remote mine and being launched into the air.
He managed to limp to fellow service personnel before a second e-bike was delivered, which he rode for 15 minutes, reaching a safe zone before evacuation.
Chief of staff, Gritsenko added: “To carry out this operation, they had to calculate the right time of day, the right weather conditions that would allow him to do it.
“The weight of this electric bike itself reaches almost 40kg.”