KYIV — Ukraine’s military has introduced specialized aerial rescue drones to evacuate wounded soldiers from combat zones, deploying the technology for the first time near the Russian border, an elite military unit said Monday.

The 475th Separate Assault Regiment, also known as Code 9.2, reported two successful evacuations using the newly developed StarGate drone, a six-rotor unmanned aircraft equipped with an enclosed capsule designed to carry injured personnel. The missions took place over the past week along a contested strip of territory approximately three miles from the state border with Russia.

One of the rescued soldiers, a 24-year-old from the 1st Territorial Defense Brigade who goes by the call sign "Izyum," described his experience in a video interview from a hospital bed. He had suffered a severe foot injury that left him unable to walk 12 miles out of the combat zone and had waited two days for extraction. According to Izyum, the drone's arrival was critical for his survival.

The StarGate drone carries a cigar-shaped stretcher and was able to land in challenging terrain where tall grass and scattered fiber-optic cables posed a risk of entanglement. The evacuation flight lasted less than 15 minutes, allowing for rapid extraction from a high-risk zone featuring ongoing artillery fire and hostile drone activity.

Developed by Ukrainian technology firm SkyFall, the drone is engineered to reduce evacuation times from hours to minutes, particularly in areas difficult to access by ground vehicles. The StarGate system can carry individuals weighing up to 330 pounds and incorporates signal jamming and autonomous navigation capabilities to counter Russian electronic warfare measures.

SkyFall has announced plans to establish a dedicated unit to operate the rescue drones, including trained pilots and deployment specialists. A company spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity due to security concerns, highlighted the potential impact on morale, noting that “service members who weren’t sure if they would ever make it out of their positions are now able to return home and hug their children.”

The commander of the Code 9.2 regiment, known by the call sign “Flint,” indicated the unit intends to adapt its structure to integrate aerial medical evacuation more fully. “We plan to create a separate medical aviation unit within the medical company,” he said, emphasizing the importance of air transport for extracting wounded soldiers under fire.

Izyum, who hopes to resume beekeeping after the war, expressed optimism that the aerial rescue program will expand. He noted the challenges soldiers face when forced to traverse long distances under shelling, whether moving on their own or carrying the injured, and stressed the urgent need for such innovations to save lives on the front lines.