Star of David drone saves lives of Ukrainian servicemen in Bakhmut sector
A soldier of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Bakhmut sector, using a Matrice 300 drone, helped other Ukrainian soldiers leave the danger zone and return to their positions.
This was reported by the Rubizh Rapid Response Brigade of the National Guard.
According to the military, this drone, which was eventually named the “Star of David,” became a symbol of the 2nd Battalion of the Rapid Response Brigade of the 3018th Brigade.
In the spring of 2023, a Ukrainian soldier with the call sign “Bugay” used this drone to help three groups of soldiers leave the dangerous area. When he decided to do this, he thought he would not be able to complete the task because of the bad weather – it was foggy outside.
“I wouldn’t have found them that way, but I could have given them a reference point. To do this, I chose a point. It was a cemetery near Temporary Yar. I flew the drone up to 100 meters, I could see the road, then flew 3 km from the Temporary Yar and raised it another 200 meters. Then I turned on all the navigation lights, the bottom light and the strobe,” he said.
Luckily, the light from the drone was spotted by the Ukrainian military. In particular, it was first detected by the crew of a group traveling on a transporter, and then by a group of scouts and a group that was traveling to pick up the wounded.
Every 10 seconds, the operator moved the drone 100 meters away and waited for ten seconds so that other soldiers could notice the direction of the drone’s movement. Eventually, this UAV was recognized by the Armed Forces of Ukraine as its symbol and was even named the Star of David.
