Armored MAUL Robot Rescues Ukrainian Soldier After 33 Days Behind Enemy Lines

Off‑road MAUL robot evacuates wounded Ukrainian soldier after 33 days behind enemy lines

Ukrainian medics successfully recovered a wounded soldier who had been isolated behind Russian lines for 33 days by deploying a remote‑controlled, armored ground robot known as the MAUL. The 1st Medical Battalion of the Ukrainian Ground Forces carried out the extraction from Russian‑occupied territory in the east of the country after six previous attempts had failed.

The vehicle, described by the battalion as a casket‑shaped capsule mounted on an ATV‑style frame with solid metal wheels, covered roughly 40 miles during the operation. Nearly 23 of those miles were traversed with a damaged wheel after the robot struck an anti‑personnel mine; the mission lasted just under six hours, and the battalion released video footage of the operation on social media.

How the rescue unfolded

According to the battalion's head of communications, Volodymyr Koval, the soldier's location and contact had been maintained throughout his isolation. Food and supplies were delivered by aerial drones while medics planned the evacuation route. Two earlier attempts were thwarted by mines and drones staging ambushes along the roads, but the seventh mission succeeded despite the ground drone hitting an anti‑personnel device en route.

"We received a request from an adjacent unit to try to evacuate their soldier. They had already made four attempts on their own, but they were unsuccessful. They turned to us because we had the appropriate capabilities," Koval told CBS News.

The MAUL reached the soldier, who climbed into the personnel capsule and secured the hatch. On the return leg the rescue unit was targeted by a Russian aerial drone; the armored capsule protected the casualty and the vehicle made it back to Ukrainian‑held territory, where military medics immediately provided first aid and stabilised him.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video statement that the serviceman is now undergoing treatment and rehabilitation and praised the 1st Medical Battalion for the operation. "We will scale up exactly this kind of technological backbone for our army — more ground robotic systems operating at the front, more drones of all types," he said, calling the systems vital for evacuations, logistics and combat support.

Platform details and wider use

• The MAUL was developed by the 1st Medical Battalion and the design was later licensed to Ukrainian defence firm DevDroid, which now manufactures and sells the platform.
• The battalion says the MAUL is powered by an internal combustion engine and can reach speeds up to 70 kph (43 mph). It uses a specially armored capsule for casualties and solid metal wheels that are puncture‑resistant.
• DevDroid lists the MAUL at about $19,000 per unit.

Earlier this year the Ukrainian National Guard's 13th Khartia Brigade used a simpler ground robot, the Zmiy‑500, to evacuate a wounded soldier while delivering supplies over more than 20 miles without incident. The 1st Medical Battalion says unmanned ground evacuations will continue to be a priority as they refine tactics and equipment.

Implications: The mission underscores how battlefield robotics and combined drone logistics are increasingly shaping casualty evacuation and frontline sustainment in high‑risk environments.