Behind enemy lines: How Ukrainian soldier dodged death and mines on e-bike flown in by drone; watch video
A wounded Ukrainian soldier cycled to safety, who was stuck in the enemy's zone for days. The incident took place after Russia launched an assault that left his fellow soldiers dead.
Andriy, stationed near Ukraine's Siversk, was surrounded by enemy, but his team members at the command bunker hatched a plan to save him by delivering a 40 kg e-bike by a drone.
A video is doing rounds on social media, where the injured Ukrainian soldier, can be seen identifying himself by his call sign "Tanker." He was the sole survivor of a three-man unit ambushed by Russian forces during a skirmish in Siversk, northern Ukraine.
Isolated and injured, he held out as Russian troops surrounded him on all sides, according to a report from The Independent.
"Every day, I was surrounded, from all sides. I fought back as best I could," Tanker said in a video released by Ukraine's Rubizh brigade, according to The Independent. "They threw two gas cylinders and a lighter into our trench. We caught fire."
Brigade commander Mykola Hrytsenko said driving a rescue team in was impossible, with Russian forces occupying every flank.
The tanker couldn't walk the 1.5 km to safety in his condition.
So, the brigade turned to a bold, video game-style plan: deliver an electric bike by drone.
Drones vs bullets
The first two drone missions failed. Russian forces shot down the first delivery; the second crashed. But on the third attempt, a drone successfully dropped the 40kg e-bike into enemy-held territory, just within reach of Tanker.
But even then, the mission was far from over.
After pedalling 400 metres, the soldier hit a remote mine. Injured again, he limped 200 metres further before his unit managed to reach him. A second e-bike was then sent, allowing him to ride 15 minutes to an evacuation point under the cover of darkness and precision-planned weather conditions.
"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," said Cdr Hrytsenko.
As Kyiv burns, Zelensky demands action
News of the rescue comes as Russian forces launched a fresh wave of missile strikes on Kyiv early Thursday, killing at least 16 people, including a six-year-old boy and his mother.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, condemning the brutality, called on allies to pursue "regime change" in Russia, escalating diplomatic pressure on Moscow.
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