The operation took place in September 2022 near Kramatorsk. There are many stories in the war – the more we remember them, the better we will know which enemy is next to us.
Today – about Rostyslav from the Lviv region, a resident of the Dobrosynsko-Magerivska community.
At the time of the events that took place near Kramatorsk in September 2022, he was 23.
In March 2022, Rostyslav and a friend were looking for their way in the army – for more than a month they went to the military headquarters, various military units, the local waste disposal facility – those who did not serve did not really want to be taken in. Such was the flow of volunteers.
Fate brings young Rostislav with the National Guard – Lviv, Ternopil, various training grounds, medical training.
And he wants to fight – at “0”. He is not interested in study trip offers. After all, it is a long time, and the war continues. Many of the acquaintances have already been killed by the enemy, some are wounded. One day in August, a young man leaves Lviv for eastern Ukraine. Since before that he was interested in weapons, he did not neglect copper studies, confidence and purposefulness can be felt in his voice. One gets the impression that he is just at work. In the future, this will save his life. Three times…
August-September days in the east of Ukraine are deceptively warm – hot during the day, cold at night. A good sleeping bag, thermal underwear comes in handy. Position – height. There was little digging, as the dugouts and trenches were already ready.
Rostislav with his brother – Donbas, September 2022
And immediately to work. In less than a month – 7 military operations. Among them is the liberation of Ozerny (Donetsk region). For which the regiment was awarded the award of the President of Ukraine.
The following was the operation, which the command took as a warning sign:
The forces of the National Guard of Ukraine of the Southern region are liberating our lands, destroying the racist occupiers in the Donetsk direction
It will have everything – a long crossing on foot, swimming across the river, swamps. More than a day – on the road. He carried heavy ammunition with him, which could not be transported – the terrain did not allow the use of armored vehicles.
The battle began in the morning
The enemy was outnumbered twice. A separate battle was fought for each house. This is how the enemy expected us, the skirmishes were conducted at a distance of tens of meters.
There are many “stretches” on the way. There was not always enough time to be attentive. 1 vacated house, 2, 3.. On 4, as Rostislav says, they were already self-confident and too inattentive:
“The Russians (and there were about 10 of them) were moving from the opposite side of the high brick fence. There were 3 of us – me, as the unit commander, two soldiers – one with a grenade launcher. We didn’t know, or rather weren’t sure, that the enemy was behind the raft. We didn’t want to fire on your own. There is silence on the communication. It is necessary to decide. And then shots were immediately fired. I reacted with aimed fire and felt a burning sensation in my left shoulder – in the first seconds I was wounded by a 5.45 caliber. But the adrenaline was so high that even did not pay attention. Brick fragments flew around us like wood chips. The firefight was at a distance of 10-15 meters – and it is what you call “hand-to-hand combat”. 10 against 3 was hard, very hard. We lay down and fired. I had to run out and throw grenade – otherwise everything will be killed. And then I receive a second wound in the leg – the upper part of the thigh was already torn by caliber 7. Trying to shoot back, I shout to my comrades that I will lie down in the grass behind the fence that was behind us – I want to put on tourniquets. I remember how I climbed over cut the raft, put a tourniquet and… How long he lay in the grass – it’s hard to say. Only the Russian language can be heard. Then I realized that I was here, wounded in the grass, alone among enemies. And only silence and grass save me from being shot.
The Russians were waiting for us – they were in every house. But they did not think that we would be so ready. The AGS-17 grenade launcher installed on the car prevented the final capture of the area. He would leave the hiding place and hide back after shots were fired – so it was impossible to understand where the fire was coming from.
I heard how they arrived in the village, came out of their hiding places, how reinforcements arrived. There are no means of communication, there is no way to report that he is alive. And at that time, my comrades are preparing a special operation to free me – they think that I have been captured.
I see our drone – but I can’t wave anything, and I don’t have the strength. Medicines, tourniquet, unconscious again. I don’t remember how long I lost consciousness. But he knew one thing – he had to act. He took everything off himself. But barefoot, not sure that I will be able to move myself somewhere, I start to crawl. One leg, one arm, leg – arm… Slowly the thought appears – I can do it. The leg is numb, but the femur is intact. The Russian language is disappearing. I try to send a signal to our drone once again – they don’t see it. Well, to the forest.
There are two options – either run away along the road, or crawl through the forest, which has more stretch marks than mushrooms. Knowing that two of our evacuation vehicles and their drivers have already been bombed by the enemy, I choose the forest. I crawl near the road and right in front of my nose I see a mine with many POM-2 micro hooks. I had everything in my mind – I was hooked.
This mine has small hooks on a transparent thread, which enter the body and when the fighter moves, it is activated – it flies up to the mountain and explodes. But since the choice is small, I risk crawling away. Phew… Alive. I will crawl further. I want to pass out, but I hold on. It’s time to crawl out onto the road and look for a mobile signal – because the strength is gone. I’m sorry, if I don’t get a connection soon, I’ll die here. And on the road itself, a typical stretch is a stretched vein and an RPG grenade. If I were healthy and confident in my leg, I would crawl. And since my leg is constantly half-moving, I have to go around it – and it’s so difficult.”
From three kilometers to his Rostislav with two wounds, 1.5 creeps in consciousness for half. And he is lucky – he contacts his people, tells them where he is. Evacuation, hospitals… Treatment.
Later he learns that two soldiers carried his comrade for 3 kilometers. They were also afraid to leave the forest, which had many stretch marks.
During the conversation with Rostislav in October, when he had a “vacuum” attached to his leg, and a “mosquito bite” on his hand (wound from 5.45), he was constantly in touch with the soldiers. He was very sorry that the liberation of Lyman took place without him. I thought that a month and a half – and at zero… But it takes time for rehabilitation, several operations. And already in December, at the time of Christmas, Rostislav passes a medical examination. He feels good and rushes into battle. Already now he is aware of those things that he did not pay much attention to before the injury.
He talked about the battle as a job where certain mistakes can be made without him. No emotions.
During Rostislav’s treatment, his friend Mykola Ivanyk, a 24-year-old native of the village of Nizhnya Stynava, Stryi District, Lviv Oblast, died in the fight against the Russian invader. The war changes the situation very quickly – someone dies, someone is transferred to other units, someone is injured…
I think that this is not his last story in the struggle of the Ukrainian people with the Rashists for freedom, but I would like to wish him two things – to return alive, healthy and with Victory!
Written by Andriy Havryshko. Glory to Ukraine!