Ukrainian soldier Serhii sits in his hospital bed in a public clinic in central Ukraine. There are small pieces of shrapnel embedded in his legs that doctors cannot recover. Despite the pain, he says he is feeling fine.
“I can’t believe I’m in the hospital now, not in the trenches. I didn’t think I would survive,” says the 36-year-old.
Serhii is an infantry soldier in the 80th Galician Air Assault Brigade.
He joined the army shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, leaving Finland, where he had lived and worked as a handyman for the past 10 years, to enlist. In a nod to his past, he was given the call sign “Fin.”
A month ago, on October 27, he and his unit were given a mission – to hold the trenches on the eastern front line, on the outskirts of Bakhmut.
This mission was supposed to last three days, but extended to two weeks after the unit was pinned down by enemy fire. For some of the men, it would be the last mission they would ever see.
The unit had been under constant shelling for several days when a mortar shell exploded near the shelter containing Serhii and two other men, isolating the group as they were about to change position.
“We were all injured. I was injured in both legs and I immediately touched them to check if they were still there,” Serhii recalled.
The other two soldiers had broken legs and jaws. One of them was so shocked that he asked to kill himself, so the others took away his weapon. When the evacuation team arrived, Serhii insisted that they take the other men first and that he wait for the next opportunity.
But that opportunity never came. Whenever other units arrived, constant Russian bombardment kept them trapped and unable to reach Serhii.
Several evacuation teams would attempt to reach Serhii over the next two weeks, but none made it through and some died trying.
“We were under constant enemy fire. The enemy seemed to be looking for our weaknesses or testing our resistance,” he recalled.
With Serhii confined to his trench, his commander used a drone to deliver him essential items such as water, painkillers, chocolate bars and even cigarettes.
“Water was a big problem because, firstly, the drone couldn’t pick up large bottles of water. Then the drone dropped small bottles wrapped in paper and tape, but not all of the bottles survived [à queda] and they often broke. The water was leaking. I enjoyed every sip of water,” Serhii said.
At the same time, Russian drones attacked the shelter, one of them launching a grenade right next to Serhii, who was then joined by another Ukrainian soldier who had been isolated.
“It exploded near the other soldier’s back and two feet from me, near my feet. We were injured, but we were lucky to survive. It was possible to evacuate only one seriously injured soldier. Then at that moment I realized he was alone.”
Surrounded
For the next three days, Serhii hid in his shelter surrounded by the enemy. Every hour, Russian troops came closer and closer to their position. He could hear their voices and knew their plan.
Believing he would not survive, Serhii radioed his commander and whispered to him the enemy’s coordinates – essentially calling in artillery strikes on his own position.
Thanks to Serhii, Ukrainian artillery conducted several accurate attacks, but more Russian soldiers continued to take up positions around him.
“I was surrounded by enemies,” Serhii explained. “When they couldn’t hear me, I whispered the coordinates into the radio again and our artillery fired at them.”
At one point, Serhii thought his time was up when a Russian soldier climbed into his shelter. The soldier asked Serhii where he was from and the Ukrainian replied in Russian that he had a concussion and asked for water.
The Russian soldier did not give him water, but crawled out of the trench, apparently still unaware that Serhii was Ukrainian.
“I still can’t understand how he didn’t realize I belonged to the Ukrainian military. I was wearing a Ukrainian uniform. My pants were in pieces. Yes, they were dirty. But it was obvious that the boots were Ukrainian,” Serhii recalled.
With all efforts to evacuate Serhii exhausted, his commander finally told him that the only way out was to crawl and pray.
“I had to crawl through the shelter where the Russians were. Holding the radio with my left hand on my knees, I began to crawl. I found a wire with a grenade on it. I could hear the commander on the radio correcting me, but I couldn’t reach him personally. The battery was almost dead. The commander shouted to me that I should move. Then I finally got to the Ukrainian positions, ‘Fin, keep moving,’ they kept telling me.”
Serhii has been recovering for more than two weeks. Sitting in the hot hospital ward, he remembers how he would lick rainwater from his ditch and dream about every sip.
Telling your story to CNN Serhii sees nothing heroic in his actions.
“You should see what our guys are doing on the front line. How they fight, evacuate and rescue their comrades. Our guys are paying a very high price. They pay with their blood. All I want is to fish with my friends, drink a few beers and sit in silence.”
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
