One decoy was shot down, but the evacuation drone slipped through undetected. Helicopter escorts shadowed Vlasenko’s flight whilst artillery targeted Russian drone launch sites in the surrounding area.
“When we were flying over the river, I was afraid that they would shoot me down, that I would fall into the water. I can’t swim,” Mr Vlasenko said of the journey, which lasted approximately one hour and 15 minutes and covered some 39 miles in total.
The drone carried him more than 300 feet above the ground before delivering him safely behind Ukrainian lines.
“And when I landed, I felt safe and relieved — I would finally see my family soon,” he said. “A special thank you to my clerk with the call sign ‘Lefty’ for spoiling me with goodies.”
Mr Vlasenko is now recovering in a hospital in Kharkiv, where he faces months of rehabilitation and the fitting of prosthetic limbs. He admitted he still cannot quite “believe” the mission succeeded.
“There are no words. I want to thank everyone,” he said.
