Ukrainian fighters used an uncrewed aerial system to ferry two pets from the front lines to safety, a local animal rights group said on Monday.
The welfare organization, UAnimals, said in a social media post that troops from the 14th Separate Mechanized Brigade flew the cat and dog roughly 7.5 miles using a drone that was returning from a food supply mission.
Videos posted by the animal welfare organization showed each animal arriving at its destination in separate green sacks attached to a drone by a rope. The clips also showed each pet later interacting with soldiers in a shelter.
Both animals are safe and in the hands of the Ukrainian military, UAnimals said.
“Risky? Yes, but leaving them there was even more dangerous, and it would not otherwise have been possible to pick them up,” the organization wrote of the operation.
UAnimals said the cat was evacuated after a soldier who had been caring for it was admitted to the hospital with injuries. The dog was later added to the passenger list, it wrote.
The pet rescue operation adds to the growing list of logistics and supply feats performed in the war by small drones, including escorting prisoners of war, prompting soldiers to surrender, and delivering an electric bike for infantry stuck behind enemy lines.
Since last year, Ukraine and Russia have increasingly relied on small aerial and ground drones for tasks beyond direct attack or reconnaissance, deploying them extensively to carry supplies and matériel to and from the front lines.
One Ukrainian brigade said in February that it had used drones to transport 200 metric tons of goods, roughly equivalent to 10,000 troops each carrying about 44 pounds of supplies, in a single month.
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