Ground robotic system carrying wounded soldier survives FPV strike, fighter successfully evacuated

Ukrainian troops successfully evacuated a wounded soldier using the Bizon ground robotic system, despite a Russian FPV drone striking the platform during the operation.

Source: 25th Separate Airborne Sicheslav Brigade

Details: The footage shows the ground robotic system moving along a field road at night. It then shows the evacuation itself, with the wounded soldier being loaded into the robot's capsule. Other parts of the video show an explosion and medics providing treatment after the evacuation.

The operation was carried out on the Pokrovsk front by paratroopers from the 25th Brigade together with troops from the 68th Separate Jaeger Brigade named after Oleksa Dovbush.

The commander of the 25th Brigade, who goes by the alias Burzhui, said the wounded soldier had been at the position for about a month and a half. While moving between positions at a distance of about 900 m, he stepped on a mine and lost his foot. According to the commander, his brothers-in-arms provided first aid and evacuated him to a dugout.

"Considering the distance, the difficult route, heavy mining and the fact that everything is under fire, we could not simply drive in and take people out. This could only be done on foot or using a ground robotic system. So we decided to evacuate him using the robot," Burzhui said.

The evacuation route was about 24 km long – 12 km each way. During the operation, a large number of Russian drones were operating in the sky.

The commander of the ground robotic systems unit in the battalion of unmanned systems of the 25th Brigade, who goes by the alias Moriak, said that after loading the wounded soldier into the robotic platform, the team began moving along the evacuation route.

"We had covered about half the route. We were told to camouflage because the sky was busy. So we pulled over to the roadside – it was a long road with nets on the sides that made it difficult to turn into the forest. So we literally stopped on the road," he said.

While the system was stationary on the road, it was struck by a Russian FPV drone.

"Ten or fifteen minutes passed and there was no communication. I reported that most likely there had been a strike and that we might have lost it. We needed to launch a drone to see what had happened," Burzhui said.

A few minutes later, the soldier himself got back in touch.

"Another five minutes passed and I got a call. I picked up and asked: 'Tioma, is that you?' He said: 'Yes… I don't have any new holes in me.' I had already thought we had lost him, but he turned out to be alive," the brigade commander said.

After the FPV strike, soldiers from a neighbouring unit – the 68th Separate Jaeger Brigade named after Oleksa Dovbush – took the soldier and continued the evacuation.

"During the mission we also encountered minor problems due to poor weather conditions. Some netting got tangled and movement became difficult. Our drivers reacted quickly, came in, took Artem and delivered him to the stabilisation point," said the operator of the robotic system who goes by the alias Hrek.

The soldier sustained a severe leg injury as a result of the mine explosion. After evacuation, doctors amputated his right foot.

In total, the evacuation operation lasted about 12 hours.

Background: Earlier, Ukrainian troops conducted another complex evacuation using a ground robot and telemedicine: the robot travelled 47 km to extract a wounded soldier from a kill zone while medics stabilised him remotely.

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!