Ukrainian commander awarded after rescuing wounded soldiers from battlefield

Kyiv, Ukraine. Ukrainian commander Vladyslav Polskyi was awarded the title Hero of Ukraine after rescuing two wounded soldiers stranded in a battlefield “kill zone” in the Kharkiv region.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy presented the 29-year-old junior lieutenant with the country’s highest military honour during Independence Day celebrations in Kyiv on Monday.

Battlefield rescue

Polskyi, a former science teacher who joined the army in 2023 and uses the call-sign “Teacher”, was at a command post about 15 km away when he saw the two soldiers on a screen.

One of the men remained strapped to an unmanned ground vehicle that had been immobilised by a Russian strike. The area between the command post and the soldiers was mined and monitored by aerial drones.

Polskyi drove his grey pick-up truck through scorched fields and past destroyed vehicles to reach the men. He was not wearing a helmet or body armour.

“If it had happened to me, I would’ve wanted them to come take me away, and not just leave me there,” he told Reuters, recalling the August 15 operation.

Drone evacuation hit

The two soldiers, who belonged to another battalion, had been wounded during a combat mission in the Kharkiv region.

They were being evacuated on an unmanned ground vehicle when it was struck by a small Russian helicopter drone carrying explosives, Polskyi said.

Announcing the award, Zelenskiy said: “People must be taken care of. Thank you, Vladyslav!”