Heroes of Ukraine. "If we stand as one, we win," soldier with a call name General

Espreso TV tells the story of the soldier who has been fighting at the front line since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.

He returned from abroad to defend Ukraine from the enemy. 

General is the commander of an infantry fighting vehicle in the mechanized battalion of the 24th "royal" brigade. The man comes from Crimea. After completing his military service, he went abroad. Following the full-scale Russian invasion, he returned to defend his Motherland.

photo source: 24th Brigade named after King Danylo

"I returned voluntarily, General notes. I could not get into volunteer battalions, so I joined the 24th separate mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. I wanted to be useful in this war and help fight the enemy. There are guys who have been fighting and they need rest. And instead of them, someone should replenish the ranks of the Ukrainian army."

General is not a professional soldier. He just did his mandatory service. According to him, the knowledge he received then came in very handy. He knew how to use grenade launchers, and later on the front line he had to master British NLAW and American Javelin.  On March 8, the man was already at the Military Commissariat. At that time, the man was not allowed to join the army, but he did not stop trying. He succeeded only by the end of April.

“I was in the unit for 5 days and went to a position near Bakhmut, Donetsk region. The first days were very difficult”, General notes. “This was unreal for a person who has never seen such a thing. Constant shelling, many dead. For the first few days, I could not believe I was at a battlefield. Our brigade was in Popasna. There were very fierce battles and we suffered great losses. Russian troops had a big advantage in number.”

General's first serious battle was in the village of Komyshuvakha, Luhansk Region. The serviceman's unit had a confrontation with the fighters of the Wagner PMC. According to the soldier, not a single meter of Ukrainian land was surrendered. They fought till the end.

"We performed our tasks excellently," said General. "We did not surrender our positions and did not retreat. On the contrary, we trained many new soldiers to fight, and the Wagner mercenaries suffered colossal losses. They wanted to break through the defense, but they did not succeed. We smashed them and it was really cool. Komyshuvaha was surrendered after we were replaced."

Following battleground successes, General became the commander of the company's combat vehicle division. 

Later, General was wounded and had to leave the front line to recuperate. Following his recovery, the man was appointed commander of an infantry fighting vehicle. According to the soldier, what he wants to achieve in his position is for the war machine to work perfectly, to have the trust of his subordinates, and to achieve maximum cooperation between his soldiers.

"We were mentally and physically prepared for defense, and somehow the opportunity for an offensive came up," says General. "Only one person died then. We performed the task very well. We have changed our leadership and our combatant sets a great example, inspires and supports us. At first the leadership was speaking to us in riddles. And now the command says: guys, we are launching an offensive. In fact, it's very motivating. And our victories give us the strength to advance further, recapture our territories and expel the enemy from Ukraine."

Nowadays, the man is doing everything to defeat the enemy as soon as possible, because his family is waiting for him at home. The fighter says he wants to live in a free country so that his child and wife are proud of him. 

Espreso TV continues its series of stories about Heroes of Ukraine who have been defending the country from Russian invaders. Read more stories in our column of the same name Heroes of Ukraine.