The international delegation, headed by Ana Lucía Bueno, ICRC Public Health Coordinator, and Sujit Panda, Head of the Physical Rehabilitation…
In civilian life, Andrii worked the land, accustomed to planning his day according to the weather and caring for crops. He says that agriculture taught him patience, responsibility, and the ability to see things through to completion.
The story of the serviceman was published on the website of the National Guard of Ukraine.
“In the field, you also fight — not an enemy, but circumstances: rain, drought, time”, — the Volyn National Guardsman smiles.
Today, together with his brothers-in-arms, he protects the sky over his native region. He voluntarily joined a Volyn National Guard unit from the first days of the full-scale invasion, completed basic military training, guarded critical facilities, and later, after extensive training, carried out combat missions with his unit in the Pokrovsk sector.
At the front, Andrii says, the most important thing is the people beside you. His comrades became a second family: together they shared fatigue, short moments of rest, and danger.
“Shaolin”, together with his fellow soldiers, held back the occupiers on the front line near Pokrovsk. There, the guardsmen had to use all their acquired professional skills and knowledge to repel enemy attacks and hold designated positions.
After numerous enemy attacks, Andrii suffered several concussions and was hospitalized. He underwent rehabilitation and returned to duty to continue defending the Homeland alongside his comrades. Currently, the National Guardsman serves as a machine gunner in one of the mobile fire groups and protects the airspace from enemy drones.
Andrii says that the hardest part is not the physical strain but the responsibility for the outcome. For him, the war became a trial that changed his life but did not change the main thing — his love for his land.
