By Olha Hembik | 2025-08-01

WARSAW -- On Ukraine's front lines, soldiers risk their lives for a solemn mission: bringing fallen comrades home. Even under fire, retrieval teams venture into contested ground to recover the dead, honoring a code that says no fighter should be left where he or she fell.

That ethos is embedded in language. In Soviet times, a dead serviceman was "Cargo 200," a clinical phrase that turned loss into paperwork. Ukrainian troops now say a fighter has returned "on the shield," invoking the ancient Spartan vow to come back victorious or carried home for burial.

The task is fraught with danger. Retrieving bodies exposes soldiers to sniper fire, artillery and ambushes. Unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) -- robotic platforms that can roll into harm's way -- offer a new way to uphold this tradition without adding to the toll.

An evacuation system

Marusya Zvirobiy, a Ukrainian servicewoman and instructor at an air assault training center, shared a Facebook video of what she called a "unique mission" near Klishchiivka on the southern flank of the Bakhmut front in Donetsk.

Zvirobiy wrote June 15 that several such missions had taken place, "not all of them successful," and that troops had worked extensively to refine the evacuation system.

The AlterEgo Rbns UGV unit developed the platform in 2024 in collaboration with the 93rd Kholodnyi Yar Separate Mechanized Brigade.

The AlterEgo Rbns unit, taking into account the UGVs' various advantages and shortcomings, is trying again to deploy them for evacuations, said Zvirobiy.

"Unfortunately, there's work for [UGVs] where we are," she wrote, adding that they have become a promising way to retrieve the dead and wounded. "Commanders are doing everything possible to avoid risking the lives of personnel."

The price of evacuation

Ivan Stoliarchuk, a journalist-turned-officer in the 32nd Separate Mechanized Brigade, has retrieved the bodies of fallen troops from Kupiansk's battlefield multiple times, leading evacuation teams on seven occasions.

"The main motivation for evacuating the dead is our conscience. No one can force you to do this. But you understand that you need to give this fighter’s mother or wife the chance to bury her loved one," Stoliarchuk told Kontur.

"Sometimes the price for evacuating one fallen soldier is the life of at least two live ones."

Russian forces sometimes booby-trap corpses with mines to kill those attempting to recover them, he said. He recalled one case where drone footage showed bodies in altered positions days after his comrades were killed.

"It was obvious that someone had manipulated the bodies," he said. Officers called in sappers before the group attempted retrieval.

Evacuation teams prepare as if for a special operation, traveling light -- just food, water, tourniquets and rifles -- and relying on silence and speed. Rainy weather offers the best cover from enemy drones. They transport bodies on soft stretchers. When it's too dangerous to approach, or if an enemy drone is spotted nearby, they use a grappling hook to pull the body to safety, catching it by the body armor.

Robotic systems could make evacuating the dead and wounded far safer, said Stoliarchuk. He recounted a mission to rescue a wounded fighter that stretched on for days after an armored personnel carrier was hit, injuring more troops.

"If there had been a robot instead, it would have easily rushed straight to the position," Stoliarchuk said.

Respect for heroism

A Ukrainian serviceman known as Magician, from the AlterEgo Rbns UGV unit, develops and modifies drones, operates them and leads missions. He said robotic platforms are still being tested on the battlefield, with plans to begin large-scale production at a Ukrainian plant.

"The operating principle of the platform is just like at the supermarket cash register: it's a conveyor belt. It has cogs on it that hook onto the person's clothes, and then it pulls the body toward itself," he told Kontur.

The system is remotely controlled and can deliver provisions to front-line positions.

A fighter with the 93rd Kholodnyi Yar Separate Mechanized Brigade, who goes by Chestnut, said the technology is straightforward.

"They're simple, like FPV [first-person view] drones, only bigger," he told Kontur.

Russian forces are building similar machines, though in smaller numbers and with less sophistication, said Chestnut. They focus mainly on retrieving "officers and sergeants," he said.

Stoliarchuk criticized Russia's treatment of its fallen troops, citing a recent exchange in which Russia sent the bodies of Russian service members to Ukraine.

Returning remains to families for burial with honors reflects respect for their sacrifice, he said.

"There's an unspoken code: we always call those who died serving in the Ukrainian military heroes," he said.