A video shared on Sunday shows a wounded Ukrainian soldier being rescued by a US-made Bradley fighting vehicle, after being spotted hiding among some trees.
The drone footage, captured by Ukraine’s 47th Mechanized Brigade, shows the soldier hiding in the foliage and waving a blue piece of paper at the drone above.
According to the text accompanying the video, the brigade spotted the wounded soldier, named Dmytro, in the bushes during an aerial reconnaissance.
Dmytro had been ambushed and sustained five bullet wounds, it said. He pulled out his military ID and waved it at the drone to prove he wasn’t Russian, per the brigade.
In the video, a Bradley can be seen arriving, with the back doors opening and two soldiers going out to pick up the limping soldier, before taking him inside the vehicle.
Medics from the brigade waited for the right moment to get out of the Bradley and evacuate the soldier, the text said.
“We thank the aerial reconnaissance men for their vigilance, the crew for their maneuverability, and the medics for saving lives,” the brigade said, per a translation by military website Militarnyi.
It didn’t specify where the rescue operation took place.
The text said that Dmytro was being treated in a hospital.
US-supplied Bradleys have played a crucial role in rescue operations on the front lines of the war in Ukraine.
Last summer, Ukrainian soldiers used a Bradley to rescue civilians while under heavy Russian fire in the village of Robotyne.
They have also helped Ukrainian soldiers fight off Russian advances, take out Russian tanks, and resist Russian fire thanks to their heavy armor.
The vehicles have prompted fear among Russian soldiers, a Ukrainian commander told Newsweek in January.
The Bradley, initially built as a response to Soviet infantry fighting vehicles, has an operational range of about 300 miles and can drive at speeds of more than 40 miles an hour.
They can move up to six fully armed soldiers to and from the battlefield, and are highly maneuverable.
The US has provided Ukraine with more than 300 Bradleys since the start of the war, according to the Department of State.
In early January, Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said the infantry fighting vehicle was “not a tank, but a tank killer” capable of giving Ukraine a “significant boost” on the battlefield.
