Ukrainian forces successfully carried out a daring rescue of a wounded soldier who had been stranded for more than a month behind enemy lines—thanks to a specially designed robotic vehicle, according to CBS News. The military had tracked the soldier’s location and airdropped supplies to sustain him, but repeated rescue attempts had failed. The breakthrough came when they deployed a custom-built robot capable of traveling through treacherous terrain to reach him.
The machine, developed by Ukrainian company DevDroid and known as the MAUL robot, journeyed roughly 40 miles across hostile territory in eastern Ukraine. Once it reached the soldier, he climbed inside its armored compartment and was carried back to safety—despite coming under fire from a Russian drone. Though the robot was damaged, it managed to complete the mission.
“His life has been saved,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a statement Thursday, adding that Ukraine plans to expand the use of similar robotic systems across its military operations. The rescued soldier’s condition has not been detailed, but officials say he is recovering.
CBS described the MAUL robot as “an armored casket mounted on an ATV frame and wheels,” built to endure combat conditions. A Ukrainian medical battalion released video footage of the dramatic mission.