Heroes of Ukraine. Walked 1.5 km with a hole in his back: young National Guardsman describes fighting in Donetsk

In a short time at zero positions in the Donetsk region, Andrii Horeslavets participated in street battles, led wounded comrades from the battlefield, and managed to get to the car that was evacuating the wounded with a hole in his back. For personal courage, he was awarded the National Guard For Valorous Service award.

Espreso will tell about a National Guardsman from Ivano-Frankivsk, who in peaceful life was a bank teller, and his favorite things were gymnastics and boxing.

"When I recovered, I realized that I was talking to myself"

Andrii Horeslavets volunteered for military service in the National Guard, and when the full-scale invasion began, after talking with his father, who also went to fight as a volunteer back in 2014, he packed his things for the war.  On February 25, he was drafted into the ranks of the Ukrainian National Guard.

"I was sleeping at home, at 5:00 a.m. my father called me and said that the war had started. At first I didn't understand anything at all. I turned on the television, started reading Telegram channels, and listened to Zelenskyy that martial law was being introduced. Against the background of all this news, it was already closer to 7:00 a.m. that I heard explosions in the city. That's when I realized - we need to get together", Andrii says. 

He admits: "I could not think that Russia would attack Ukraine so defiantly. And even though I didn't want to believe in a full-scale war, the hits on Ivano-Frankivsk brought me back to reality".

"When I spoke with my father, who has been in the war since 2014, he said that there were also battles, tanks, artillery... But what is happening now is two different worlds. The current war is much more brutal, in particular towards the civilian population. In 2014, there were no such bloody raids on peaceful cities, and now it's all massive".

The soldier says that starting from March 20, when he was in the Donetsk region, there was always something that seemed like it couldn't be worse. Artillery shelling was every day and every minute. Every day and every event was like the last.

"Before in my life, I had never been on combat operations, I did not know how to control my fear. I tried to support myself in my head. When we first drove to the line, our KrAZ began to be fired upon. Every 8 seconds, closer and closer. And then I just saw a flash 7 meters from us. We jumped out. I was sitting in the dugout and it flew over it. It was so deafening that I didn't hear what my colleagues were saying to me. At first I didn't even understand if I was alive. But after I recovered, I realized that I was talking to myself. Then I got a concussion, but I survived" Andrii says. 

"War is not only sorrow, it is also the amazing friendship of colleagues"

However, it wasn't only a concussion. He received a shrapnel wound in the back, after which he recovered and was rehabilitated for more than a month.

"There was an attack on us once, street fighting, and it flew into the building where we were sitting. The house was on fire, we were suffocating and had to quickly change positions. When we were running, it flew again - right into the yard. I saw a flash, fell and then  felt that my back was burning. My brothers took off the armor, it was all in pieces, and there was a hole in my back. Then they told me that 3 centimeters remained to reach the lungs. I couldn't breathe, I was suffocating. The colleagues thought that the lung was punctured. So, a friend with a wounded leg, me with a hole in my back, as well as a commander who had a wound in his beard - we were able to walk one and a half kilometers on our own to be evacuated, because there was no way to get to us. Then our car was shelled with mortars".

In the first days, he recalls, there were emotions, and then he got used to it, and the fear disappeared somewhere.

"You know your purpose. You know how to do your job. You know what your purpose is, so you just get up and do it. War is a daily prayer, especially when you're under fire and you're sitting with a comrade in a trench. It was also cold - we covered ourselves with one sleeping bag, and ate together from the same bowl. But war is not only about grief. It is also about good human feelings between colleagues - moral support, and encouragement of each other. That is what makes us different from the Russians. My colleagues are like my brothers. All the time you think about your safety and the safety of your comrades".

But the defenders of Ukraine do not only care about their comrades in arms. Defending their native land, Andrii and his colleagues constantly help those Ukrainians who remained in the occupied territories and in the war zone. Although there are not many of them left, the military says. 

"Mostly older people stay there. Once an old woman left the house, and we shared bread with her. There were people among the local population who didn't care about everything, they didn't say anything to us. Some people expected us to come, they asked for protection and help - we also took them for evacuation, took out those who wanted to leave the villages. We also know cases when our positions were surrendered. However, we must support each other. Shelling or not, we all stick together and confidently defend", he says. 

"And we will return our Crimea to Ukraine, be sure"

Now, after rehabilitation, Andrii Horeslavets is undergoing training and is preparing for another trip to the front. Andrii's father also received a shrapnel wound in the back near Severodonetsk, but he also underwent rehabilitation and returned to the East.

The soldier is 100% sure of victory. He says: "There are no Cossacks like our boys anywhere in the world. We are united and stand for each other no matter what". He speaks reluctantly about his enemies. He says he only feels hatred for them.

"They rape small children, infirm grandmothers, kill children and in general simply destroy the Ukrainian people, the whole nation. This should not happen. That is why we are standing here. And we will return our Crimea to Ukraine, be sure", Andrii Horeslavets is convinced. 

After the victory, Andrii, like every Ukrainian, wants simple family comfort: he dreams of seeing his bride and parents, as well as going to the sea. But the biggest dream is for the bloody war to stop, because what he saw on the front line is difficult to convey in words.

Photos are provided by the press service of the National Guard of Ukraine in Ivano-Frankivsk.