This is the astonishing moment a wounded Ukrainian soldier was carried to safety by an armoured drone vehicle after being trapped for 33 days in no-man’s land.
Even as Russian bombs detonated around the robotic capsule containing the troop inside, the dramatic five-hour-and-58-minute rescue mission was still successful.
The injured soldier was cut-off behind enemy lines after a landmine shattered his foot, and the only thing keeping him alive was a tourniquet.
Six attempts to save the troop had previously failed, after escape vehicles traversing the so-called ‘kill zone’ were destroyed among the myriad drones and mines.
But his comrades refused to accept defeat, and on their seventh rescue attempt sent an unmanned vehicle over 40 miles in to Russian territory to bring him home.
‘If the fighter didn’t give up, we had no right to give up,’ said Ukraine’s First Separate Medical Battalion, the group of medics who executed the mission.
Tense video footage shows the remotely piloted vehicle inching across Russian-controlled territory as enemy drones hover overhead.
Some 17 miles into the mission, the casket-shaped robot struck an anti-personnel mine, losing one of its wheels, but it remained controllable and continued its journey.
The MAUL ground drone, developed by the battalion, runs on an internal combustion engine reaching speeds of up to 70 km/h (43 mph)
Even as Russian bombs detonated around the robotic capsule containing the troop inside, the dramatic five-hour-and-58-minute rescue mission was still successful
Six attempts to save the troop had previously failed, after escape vehicles traversing the so-called ‘kill zone’ were destroyed among the myriad drones and mines
When the vehicle reached the soldier, he climbed in to the ‘coffin on wheels’ and sealed himself safely inside.
Moments after, a Russian drone dropped an explosive but the armoured capsule held firm, protecting its passenger from being wounded in the blast.
The vehicle, called the MAUL ground drone, was developed by the First Medical Battalion specifically to evacuate injured troops from otherwise unreachable positions on the frontline, too dangerous for medics to access.
The unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) was mounted on an ATV frame and guided through perilous enemy territory under near-constant aerial surveillance, reaching the undisclosed location.
‘The area is what we call a kill zone, with a very high density of enemy drones in the air, numerous mines and obstacles, and waiting drones – drones lying in ambush on the ground, waiting for movement,’ Volodymyr Koval, the medical battalion’s head of communications, told The Telegraph.
‘The mission involved dozens of people – pilots, navigators, the planning group, drone operators providing overwatch, specialists from supporting units, and the medical evacuation team that was waiting to receive the wounded soldier,’ he added.
As soon as the robot reached Ukrainian-controlled territory, medics provided first aid and stabilised the soldier.
He has since had his limb amputated and is undergoing rehabilitation in Kyiv.
When the vehicle reached the soldier, he climbed in to the ‘coffin on wheels’ and sealed himself safely inside
The vehicle, called the MAUL ground drone, was developed by the First Medical Battalion specifically to evacuate injured troops from otherwise unreachable positions on the frontline
As soon as the robot reached Ukrainian-controlled territory, medics provided first aid and stabilised the soldier
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky applauded the success of the rescue mission
The armoured robot allows Ukrainian forces to reach their injured quickly and deliver them to hospital, without putting medics at risk during the rescue mission
‘The soldier’s location was known, there was contact with him, food was being sent to him from the air – logistics were carried out by aerial drones. We began to develop a plan for his evacuation and study the route,’ Koval told CBS News.
‘Two attempts were unsuccessful due to enemy mines and drones waiting on the ground in ambush on the roads. The seventh mission was successful, despite the fact that the drone hit an anti-personnel mine.’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky applauded the success of the rescue mission.
‘The wounded warrior is now undergoing treatment and rehabilitation. His life has been saved,’ he said in a video statement.
According to the battalion, the MAUL robot ‘is an evacuation platform powered by an internal combustion engine, which allows it to reach speeds of up to 70 kph (43 mph)’.
It has a special armoured capsule to protect the wounded and special metal wheels that do not contain air, designed to withstand mines and rough terrain.
Crucially, the vehicle is capable of withstanding FPV drone strikes during rescue missions.
The units are now sold by Ukrainian defence company DevDroid and cost around $19,000 (£14,4000) each.
The robot’s range is 150 km on hard surfaces and 100 km off-road. During the rescue mission of the soldier, it reached a maximum speed of 18 mph.
The previous failed missions resulted in the loss of several ground robotic platforms, including those from supporting units.
Due to the high density of enemy fire and the fact that the entire front line is under constant aerial surveillance, traditional medical evacuations are increasingly delayed or impossible.
That is why unmanned evacuation vehicles such as the MAUL ground drone are becoming all the more important in the Ukraine war as soldiers get trapped in Russian territory.
The armoured robot allows Ukrainian forces to reach their injured quickly and deliver them to hospital, without putting medics at risk during the rescue mission.
‘We will scale up exactly this kind of technological backbone for our army – more ground robotic systems operating at the front, more drones of all types, and increased deliveries of modern solutions that help achieve results in combat, in providing supplies for our combat units, and in evacuating our wounded warriors,’ President Zelensky said.
