Drone delivers e-bike, enabling soldier's escape from Russian forces
'The enemy was in front, behind, and on both flanks. Completely surrounded,' Mykola Hrytsenko, a junior lieutenant serving as the brigade's chief of staff, said in a video published on Wednesday. The soldier said his team came up with an evacuation plan that involved heavy cargo drones to carry the bicycle to his position.
These types of drones are usually used by Ukraine as bombers but can also lift heavy cargo. Hrytsenko said his comrades initially lost two drones trying to deliver the electric vehicles to him.
The first was shot down as it attempted to deliver the bike, while the second crashed after its motors burned out. Mykola Gristenko, a chief of staff in the brigade, said a rescue team could not reach the injured soldier without risking their own lives. 'It was impossible to drive up with equipment because the enemy was everywhere. 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.'
Drones have become an integral tool used by Ukraine during the war with Russia, allowing troops to navigate enemy lines without risking soldiers' lives. It comes after Ukraine unleashed chaos at Moscow's four airports last week with drone strikes on the city.
Hundreds of passenger planes had to be diverted as waves of unmanned flying bombs converged on the Russian capital. Footage showed explosions as Russian air defences attacked incoming unmanned planes in Zelenograd, a district 23 miles northwest of the Kremlin.
Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency diverted some 134 planes to alternate airports amid the mayhem, saying it was 'necessary to ensure the safety of civil aircraft flights'. Frustrated passengers - including tourists on summer vacations - were hit by delays, diverted flights and numerous cancellations in an apparent new tactic by Ukraine to paralyse air travel in Vladimir Putin's capital.
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