A U.S. military helicopter has landed on the Polish-Ukrainian border overnight as it is said to be evacuating an American wounded in Ukraine.
Civil Aviation Tracking Page Data Flight Radar 24 Display of UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter with Army insignia “EVAC01” America This morning took off from Millek Airport in Poland and landed at the Korczowa-Krakovets border crossing with Ukraine.
In images obtained from surveillance cameras, the Black Hawk helicopter picked up many passengers from a black car at the border crossing before taking off and flying west, landing at the hospital in Rzeszow-Jasonka.
An American helicopter picked up passengers at the Polish-Ukrainian border this morning. video: Twitter/Brad Howard New York.
Air traffic control radio communications showed U.S. helicopters on a medical evacuation mission. However, the US has not released any information on the identities of passengers and patients on the flight.
The black car is believed to have come from the Ukrainian city of Yavorov, near the Polish border, where a number of NATO advisers have been training Ukrainian soldiers since 2014.
On the social network Telegram, a militaristic account specializing in monitoring the international military situation said the helicopter was deployed to evacuate a wounded American from Ukraine across the border into Poland.
Earlier, the U.S. military was said to have opened a center on the Polish border to receive citizens from Ukraine, after the country’s State Department warned Americans to leave Ukraine “immediately.”
The White House last week approved a plan to mobilize troops to help thousands of U.S. citizens who may have to leave Ukraine if Russia attacks a neighboring country amid the president’s administration Joe Biden Seeking to avoid a repeat of the chaos of last year’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.
About 1,700 soldiers from the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division are stationed in Poland, setting up checkpoints, tents and infrastructure along the border with Ukraine to assist U.S. citizens by road after they leave the country.
This force is not allowed to enter Ukrainian territory, to directly evacuate U.S. citizens, or to fly in Ukraine for missions. Their main task is to ensure logistical support and to assist in coordinating the relocation of citizens on the Polish-Ukrainian border.
However, contrary to constant U.S. warnings, the situation on the Russian-Ukrainian border is said to be cooling after Moscow announced on February 15 that it would begin withdrawing troops near Ukraine. It was seen as the first positive sign to ease tensions between Russia and the West that have been simmering for weeks.
Wu Ying (follow reverse transcription)