The international delegation, headed by Ana Lucía Bueno, ICRC Public Health Coordinator, and Sujit Panda, Head of the Physical Rehabilitation…
The fighters of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Border Guard Detachment held the defense on the Hulyaipole axis for 54 days, and even in full encirclement successfully completed their combat mission, inflicting significant losses on the enemy.
Their feat was reported on Saturday, February 7, by the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.
“The enemy shelled our positions with artillery and carried out assaults. Our servicemen inflicted significant losses on Russian units. The conditions under which they had to hold the defense were beyond human limits — frost, snow, lack of sleep, constant tension, and expectation of the next attack”, — the report says.
Despite all difficulties, Ukrainian defenders acted as coordinated as possible, knowing that any mistake could cost them their lives.
“The enemy acted brazenly, Russian speech was heard everywhere. When the occupiers came close to our positions, we worked carefully, without unnecessary noise, so as not to reveal our location”, — recalls a soldier with the callsign “Dendi”.
Thus, our heroes held off enemy assaults for nearly two months, dragging eliminated occupiers into their trench line to maintain camouflage.
“The hardest part for me psychologically was not just eliminating the enemy, but also masking their bodies. We turned our position into a so-called ‘Bermuda Triangle’ — the Russians couldn’t understand where their soldiers were disappearing”, — says another fighter, “Toronto”.
Moreover, even despite their own wounds, during the withdrawal the Ukrainian soldiers managed to save one of their comrades.
“He had a severe arm injury. The border guards applied a tourniquet, gave him pain relief, and together continued moving out of the enemy encirclement”, — the SBGS added.
