The international delegation, headed by Ana Lucía Bueno, ICRC Public Health Coordinator, and Sujit Panda, Head of the Physical Rehabilitation…
The war for Demian, callsign “Atoshnyk”, began back in 2014 with his forced departure from his native Horlivka. Today, he is an aerial reconnaissance operator in the “Khyzhak” Brigade, a consolidated rifle brigade of the Patrol Police of Ukraine, carrying out combat missions in the Kostiantynivka direction and continuing the fight for the land the enemy tried to take from him twice.
The story of the fighter was published by the National Police of Ukraine.
In 2013, “Atoshnyk” began service in the police. A year later, the city was shaken by the first attempts by militants to seize the department.
The first attack was repelled, but during the second one, defense became impossible. Together with his comrades, he withdrew on foot through what was then liberated Toretsk.
There, Demian continued his service and lived until the start of the full-scale invasion. When the war reached Toretsk, he was involved in evacuating civilians.
During that time, he evacuated nearly a thousand people — children, large families, and elderly residents.
“When you see Toretsk now, it’s anger. This is my home. Everything is destroyed. We are working so that the enemy does not advance further and so that people can have a normal life again”, — the servicemember says.
Initially, Demian fought in the infantry of the “Khyzhak” Brigade, and for several months now he has been serving in aerial reconnaissance. His unit works daily to detect enemy positions and adjust fire on the enemy.
Explaining why civilians still remain in frontline cities, he speaks bluntly:
“Elderly people don’t leave because there’s no one to take care of them. And younger people often stay not because they lack the opportunity — they are simply waiting for ‘liberation’. I can’t explain it otherwise — they’re waiters”.
After victory, Demian dreams of something simple — to live life and make up for lost time. The long 13 years that the war has taken from him.
