US Black Hawk Lands On Polish Road Near Ukraine Border, Army Says Medical Evacuation

Amid increasing tensions on the Russia-Ukraine border, a sudden flight undertaken by a US Black Hawk air ambulance variant to a checkpoint along the Polish-Ukrainian border Tuesday night garnered attention.

As per The Drive War Zone report, the Black Hawk was in the area to medically evacuate a service member assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine. The person was reportedly experiencing an unspecified medical emergency.

Social media was abuzz with reports of the HH-60M chopper's journey toward the Poland border by midnight based on data from online flight tracking websites.

The visuals from the live camera feed of the Polish Border Guard too showed the Black Hawk landing on a road near the Korczowa-Krakovets border crossing. The chopper appeared to evacuate an individual who reportedly crossed over from the Ukrainian side. The helicopter was then tracked flying to a hospital in the Polish city of Rzeszow, The Drive added.

The journey was later confirmed by the spokesperson for the U.S. Army Europe and Africa (USAREUR-AF). "A U.S. service member assigned to the U.S. Embassy Kiev (Kyiv) experienced a non-injury medical condition requiring immediate care. The service member was transported by ground from Lviv to the Polish border where a U.S. Army MEDEVAC helicopter transported the service member to a local medical facility for treatment," Maj. Scott Kuhn told The Drive War Zone in a statement Thursday.

He added that the service member was in a stable condition and as per the standard procedure, will be transported to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany for further care. The spokesperson did not provide any other details.

This comes days after the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv formally announced that it was temporarily relocating operations to Lviv, is a city in western Ukraine, around 70 kilometers from the border with Poland, due to Russian troop buildup.

Meanwhile, another Black Hawk, a UH-60M transport variant, was tracked flying from Constanta, Romania, to an area near the Romanian-Ukrainian border. It then moved to Suceava Ștefan cel Mare International Airport in the city of Suceava, which is 25 miles south of Ukraine, said local Romanian media reports.

Despite Russia's claims that it is withdrawing troops, satellite images and reports said the buildup continues at the border. According to a senior U.S. official, over 7,000 extra troops have arrived in recent days.