19-year-old contract soldier carries out lifesaving battlefield evacuation
A 19-year-old ground drone operator successfully evacuated a severely wounded soldier from the frontline in a mission that lasted six hours, covering over 30 km in freezing snow, according to Serhiy Volkov of the 110th Brigade’s Ground Robotic Complex (GRC) unit on Facebook.
Volkov explained: “Our unit mostly handles logistics missions, but we also conduct casualty evacuations. The commander of a mechanized battalion asked us to extract a wounded soldier from the forward edge. The operation involved a complex but reliable drone. At the controls was a 19-year-old woman, callsign ‘Grinch,’ who had been with the unit less than a month — this was her first evacuation mission. She successfully brought the soldier to safety. Despite harsh conditions, the mission was a success.”
The rescued soldier, callsign ‘Kochehar,’ 49, from Lviv region, suffered severe injuries — shrapnel wounds and a gunshot fracture to his left leg — during artillery fire on the Zaporizhzhia axis. Doctors confirmed that without this evacuation, he would not have survived.
Volkov added:“Kochehar has been in the 110th Brigade since 2025, a calm and reliable soldier who was just doing his job, destroying the occupiers. Thanks to this operation, his leg will be saved.”
Earlier, Syrskyi announced plans to deploy robots and underground medical points to support medevac operations on the front. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has officially codified and approved the use of the new Zmiy Droid 12.7 reconnaissance and strike ground robotic complex on the battlefield.
