Ukrainian commander rescues wounded in kill zone

Ukrainian commander Vladyslav Polskyi, 29, rescued two wounded soldiers from a kill zone on Aug. 15, 2026, earning the Hero of Ukraine award.

The Rescue Mission

Polskyi, a former science teacher who joined the army in 2023, was watching the soldiers on a screen in his command post about 15 km away when he saw one wounded fighter still strapped to a land drone that had been immobilised by a Russian strike. The kill zone stretched between them, riddled with mines and swarmed by aerial drones ready to attack anything that moved. Without a helmet or body armour, Polskyi hopped into his grey pick-up truck and raced past scorched fields and charred husks of other vehicles. He had no protective gear, but he was determined to reach the men.

The two soldiers had been wounded during a combat mission in the Kharkiv region and were being evacuated atop an unmanned ground vehicle when a Russian small, agile helicopter drone loaded with explosives struck the land drone. The drone knocked out the land drone’s Starlink terminal, severing the link with its pilot and leaving it immobilised. One wounded soldier crawled into a ditch off the road and hid in the vegetation; the other lay helpless on the four-wheeled vehicle under an open sky, his right foot dangling from the bone.

Polskyi described speeding toward the men while planning how he would load them onto the flatbed of the truck. He hoisted both men onto his truck and raced home, managing to evade the flying Russian drones that had been detected heading toward their new target. He recalled the fear in the men’s eyes and said, “But you need to know how to control it.”

Technology Limits Exposed

Ukraine has been using remote-controlled unmanned vehicles to limit human involvement in dangerous tasks such as evacuations inside the kill zone, seeking an edge against Moscow’s larger army. The Russian drone’s attack exposed the limits of the relatively slow and rudimentary vehicles. Kyiv’s forces say they are killing or wounding around 30,000 Russian soldiers a month - a figure Moscow dismisses as exaggerated. Both sides frequently post videos of drones hunting each other’s soldiers in the kill zone.

Surveillance drone footage, obtained exclusively by Reuters from Polskyi’s unit, the 475th Assault Regiment, shows his truck hurtling down a gravel road before turning and rapidly reversing toward the damaged drone. Reuters verified the exact location of the rescue using the full-length footage, but the regiment asked not to disclose where it took place for security reasons. At another nearby command post, drone-platoon leader “Malyi” watched the rescue play out on screens in real time. “Everyone in the command centre was shocked,” said the 22-year-old call-sign. “Just a single Russian drone or land mine could have killed all three men.”

Polskyi’s unit is listed in the regiment’s squad and stats. The rescue was captured on the unit’s surveillance drone footage, which was shared with Reuters.

Recognition and Aftermath

Polskyi’s feat captured the country’s attention and earned him the Hero of Ukraine award days later. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy presented him with the award at Independence Day celebrations in Kyiv on Monday. “People must be taken care of. Thank you, Vladyslav!” Zelenskiy said, announcing the award. The rescue remains a stark reminder of the dangers soldiers face and the limits of battlefield technology.