Ukrainian lieutenant drives through deadly zone to rescue wounded comrades

In the Kharkiv region, junior lieutenant Vladyslav Polskyi observed two soldiers stranded after a Russian attack disabled their unmanned ground vehicle. The area between his command post and the victims was littered with mines and patrolled by hostile drones. Without helmet or body armor, Polskyi jumped into his pickup, sped across the danger zone, and lifted the wounded men onto the truck, then reversed to a safer route while evading further drone strikes.

Surveillance video from his 475th Assault Regiment confirmed the rescue, though the exact coordinates were withheld for security. The operation captured national attention and led President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to award Polskyi the Hero of Ukraine title during the Independence Day ceremony. The incident also underscored both the promise and the limits of Ukraine’s remote-controlled battlefield technology.