This is the incredible moment an injured Ukrainian soldier who was stranded behind Russian enemy lines escaped after he was delivered an e-bike by a drone.
Footage shared by the country’s Rubizh Brigade appears to show an unmanned aerial vehicle winching the bicycle down to the wounded serviceman.
The man was reportedly surrounded by Russian forces near the northern city of Siversk, before he cycled away at speed.
It emerged as Vladimir Putin’s forces launched a wave of missile attacks on the capital Kyiv in the early hours of Thursday, killing 16 people, including a six-year-old boy and his mother.
Three of the brigade’s troops had been killed by artillery fire during a military operation, leaving the remaining soldier to hold down the position alone.
A wounded Ukrainian soldier had an electric bike dropped by drone onto his position so he could evacuate.
— Devana 🇺🇦 (@DevanaUkraine) July 31, 2025
He held the defense for 5 days, but could not leave the position on his own, so UAV operators came to his aid pic.twitter.com/GH2JowIilw
The soldier, call sign “Tanker”, said: “Our drones covered us from above as best as they could. Then they threw two gas cylinders straight into our hole and a lighter. We caught fire.”
Tanker was unable to flee the battleground without assistance after sustaining a leg injury. “Every day, I was surrounded, from all sides,” Tanker said. “I fought back as best I could.”
But the brigade’s chief of staff Mykola Gritsenko said a rescue team was unable to attend Tanker without risking their own safety.
It was at this point that army officials decided to airlift an e-bike to the wounded Tanker using a drone.
The Battalion Freedom Force said two initial attempts to deliver the e-bike failed, with the vehicle first being shot down and then the drones’ motors burning out.
However, a third effort proved successful, with Tanker riding the bike for 400m before being thrown into the air by a remote mine.
Nevertheless, Tanker limped a further 200m, before being met by his comrades and pulled to safety.
A second e-bike was delivered to Tanker, which he rode for 15 minutes until he reached an area where he could be evacuated.
“To carry out this operation, they had to calculate the right time of day, the right weather conditions that would allow him to do it,” Gritsenko said.
Commenting on the latest round of Russian strikes, three-and-a-half years after Mr Putin launched his illegal invasion of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky said: “Peace without strength is impossible.
“But forcing Moscow to make peace, compelling them to come to a real negotiating table – all the tools needed for this are in the hands of our partners.”
