Ukraine conflict: Ukraine records first ever UAV casualty evacuation
A screenshot from an Armed Forces of Ukraine video showing the first ever recorded CASEVAC of a wounded soldier by UAV, which was announced on 19 October 2026. (Armed Forces of Ukraine)
Ukraine has recorded the first ever documented casualty evacuation (CASEVAC) of a wounded soldier using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
Footage released by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) on 19 October 2026 showed a single soldier securing himself to a large six-armed multicopter UAV before being flown to safety by personnel located in a remote operating station.
The AFU said that the UAV was one built by Ukrainian defence company Gurzuf Defence, making it the Audag-6 hexacopter. The units involved in the operation comprised the 10th Army Corps, the Unmanned Ground Systems Company of the 92nd Separate Assault Brigade, the 2nd Mechanised Battalion of the 30th Separate Mechanised Brigade, and the14th Separate Mechanised Brigade.
Gurzuf Defence noted that the Audag-6 recently set a new payload record for a Ukrainian UAV, lifting 130 kg to 15 meters in height and 15 minutes in the air. The ongoing Ukraine-Russia war has provided many firsts in the use of UAVs in warfare, with this first CASEVAC following earlier firsts of air-to-air combat against other UAVs and also helicopters.
For more, please see German Grille X4 ‘rescue drone' makes maiden flight
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