A Ukrainian drone spotted a fellow wounded soldier bleeding out on a battlefield. He crawled back to safety after the drone dropped off water and aid: report

A drone during the testing of new military equipment, including FPV drones, by soldiers from the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade on the training area amid Russia-Ukraine war in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on August 03, 2023.

Wojciech Grzedzinski/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

• Serhiy, a Ukrainian soldier, was badly wounded by shelling in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
• He was stuck in a crater field for two days with a pierced lung and wounded leg, Serhiy told CNN.
• Serhiy was able to crawl back to safety after a drone spotted the soldier in the field.

A Ukrainian soldier separated from the rest of his unit and left to bleed alone in a crater field close to enemy territory was saved by a drone delivering life-saving supplies — but for a harrowing few moments, he wasn't sure if the drone was a friend or foe.

The soldier was injured on the battlefield in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast in July, and was suffering from a chest and leg wound from the shelling, CNN's chief international security correspondent, Nick Paton Walsh, reported.

"I was ready to fight for my life, and I did, even lying there under the blazing sun," the soldier, identified by CNN only as Serhiy, told the outlet through a translator. "I realized I was too close to the Russians and you even start to look at your gun in a different way."

"All the time I was crawling, a drone was hovering above," Serhiy told CNN, adding that he wasn't sure if it was a "friend or foe. It was a lottery."

Then, the vehicle dropped what could have been a package or a bomb.

But as he clung to life, Serhiy soon realized that the drone was on his side.

Footage from the Ukrainian military provided to CNN shows the drone operators attaching water, medicine, and a note to send to Serhiy. The aerial vehicle soon came back to the soldier's location to drop off the package.

Serhiy can be seen in the footage throwing a thumbs up in the moment he realized that he could be saved.

According to CNN, the drone kept sending water and medicine to the wounded soldier to ease Serhiy's pain and allow him to crawl back to safety. Combat medics found the soldier after two days.

"The combat medics who gave me first aid when they found me were very surprised I survived for two days with a pierced lung," Serhiy told CNN.

Eugene, a soldier of the 15th national guard brigade who operated the drone, told CNN that he wouldn't be able to "live with myself" if he left a fellow soldier to die.

"I don't want to leave anyone behind," he said.

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