Ukrainian commander sped through ‘kill zone’ to save wounded troops

KHARKIV REGION, UKRAINE – Seeing two wounded fighters stranded on the battlefield — one of them still strapped to a land drone immobilized by a Russian strike — Ukrainian commander Vladyslav Polskyi knew he had to do something. The 29-year-old — a former science teacher who joined the army in 2023 — was watching the soldiers on a screen in his command post around 15 kilometers away. Between them stretched the “kill zone,” riddled with mines and swarmed by aerial drones ready to attack anything that moved.