A Vampire heavy attack drone crew from Ukraine’s 21st Separate Mechanized Brigade freed two infantrymen from Russian captivity on the Northern Slobozhanshchyna front in April, the brigade confirmed. It described this as the first such rescue on that axis.
Russian troops overran a neighboring unit’s positions and captured the two soldiers before command radioed a Vampire crew stationed several kilometers away. The Vampire, which Russian forces have nicknamed “Baba Yaga” after a Slavic folk witch, is a heavy attack hexacopter produced by Ukrainian defense company SkyFall and capable of carrying up to 15 kilograms of ordnance.
“During a Russian assault on a neighbouring brigade’s positions, two of our infantrymen were captured and the command requested assistance,” the 21st Brigade said. “Wasting no time, the soldiers got the drone ready and immediately set out to carry out the rescue.”
Flying overhead, operators confirmed which soldiers on the ground were Ukrainian before clearing strikes.
“Hearing the distinctive sound of the ‘Vampire’ hovering above them, the Russians became disoriented, panicked, abandoned the prisoners, and tried to flee,” the brigade stated. The drone crew struck and killed two Russian soldiers, and the captives broke free.
The operation was commanded by a soldier with the call sign Rubin, 23, alongside crew members Balta, Balu, and Diadia Kolia, the unit said. Both freed soldiers returned to their units uninjured.
The rescue is the second confirmed Vampire-assisted prisoner recovery in 2026. In February, a crew from the 1st Separate Assault Regiment executed a similar operation near Huliaipole, eliminating a Russian escort with precision bomb drops.
“There have been many situations where drones really saved lives,” the operation’s navigator said in footage published by the unit. “That they saved someone from captivity, this is the first time I have heard such a thing.”
