Ukrainian soldier survives two weeks surrounded by enemy, calling in own artillery strikes
Serhii, a 36-year-old infantryman in the 80th Air Assault Galician Brigade, has survived a harrowing two weeks surrounded by Russian troops on the eastern front line of Ukraine. The mission, initially set to last three days, stretched into a life-threatening ordeal after Serhii and his unit became pinned down by enemy fire.
“We were under constant enemy fire. The enemy seemed to be looking for our weaknesses or testing our endurance,” Serhii recalled. He and two other soldiers were wounded when a mortar exploded near their dugout, cutting them off from the rest of their unit. Despite being under constant shelling, Serhii was determined to wait for the next opportunity to be evacuated, but that opportunity never came.
Multiple evacuation teams attempted to reach Serhii over the next two weeks, but none could get through and some died trying. With no way out, Serhii’s commander used a drone to drop off essentials such as water, painkillers, chocolate bars, and even cigarettes. But Russian drones were also targeting the dugout, dropping a grenade near Serhii and another Ukrainian soldier who had become cut off.
After the other soldier was evacuated, Serhii hid in his dugout, surrounded by the enemy for three days. He was able to contact his commander and whisper the coordinates of the enemy, calling in artillery strikes around his position. At one point, a Russian soldier crawled into the dugout and asked where Serhii was from, unaware that he was a Ukrainian soldier.
Faced with no other option, Serhii’s commander eventually told him the only way out was to crawl and pray. “I had to crawl through the dugout where Russians were. Holding the radio in my left hand on my knees, I started crawling,” Serhii said. “I came across a tripwire with a grenade on it. I could hear the commander on the radio correcting me, but I could not contact him myself. The battery was almost dead.”
Now recovering in a hospital, Serhii reflects on his experience, emphasizing that he believes his actions were not heroic. “You should see what our guys are doing on the front line. How they fight, evacuate, and rescue their dudes. Our guys are paying a very high price. They pay with their blood,” he said. “All I want is to do is go fishing with my dudes, drink some beers and sit in silence.”
Despite the injuries and harrowing experience, Serhii remains upbeat, expressing gratitude for his survival and emphasizing the sacrifices made by his comrades on the front line.