The international delegation, headed by Ana Lucía Bueno, ICRC Public Health Coordinator, and Sujit Panda, Head of the Physical Rehabilitation…
The full-scale invasion caught Serhii on a business trip in western Ukraine. Hearing about strikes on Kyiv, he did not hesitate and returned to the capital.
The story of the soldier was published on the page of the 1129th Bila Tserkva Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment.
Serhii is a senior soldier and squad leader whose military path began long before the full-scale war. At 38, he combines the calm confidence of an experienced soldier with the energy of a man who always finishes what he starts.
His war did not begin in 2022. He previously served mandatory military service and was mobilized during the third wave of the Anti-Terrorist Operation as part of the renowned 72nd Brigade. He went through Hranitne, Starohnativka, and Novotroitske.
“I understood where I was going. Very well understood. In the infantry you know the value of every minute”, — Serhii recalls.
When the full-scale invasion began, he evacuated his family to a safe place and immediately went to the enlistment office. By March 9 he was already back in service.
His wife’s brother Ruslan, whom Serhii considers family, joined him. They served together in an air defense SAM cover group on the Sloviansk axis. Now Serhii is a squad leader, and Ruslan has become an officer and continues to serve with him as deputy commander of one of the batteries.
Serhii remembers well his first downed target:
“The first target was ours — it was March 2023. There was snow and frost. Boom — it flew, and it was the first time I saw how a missile actually flies. We stood not far, 50–100 meters away. Filmed it with a thermal imager. Very strong, positive emotions. It was probably an Orlan-10”, — he says.
Now Serhii leads a unit that hunts enemy drones. The work is exhausting but effective.
He says the sky has changed dramatically since the start of the war: the enemy is switching to cheaper or, conversely, more complex technological solutions; many new strike drones like “Molniya” and “Gerbera” have appeared.
Despite the harsh conditions, Serhii has a deeply civilian background. He is completing his master’s degree in economics, previously earned a bachelor’s degree from the Yaroslav the Wise University, and before the war worked at a state enterprise servicing nuclear power plants.
His true passion, however, is metalworking.
“I made myself a small mini-forge, made knives. Before the war I had almost finished two tanto blades. Left them on the table — polished, ready, but unfinished. The war put everything on pause”, — he says.
The hardest part for Serhii is being away from his family. His son was born in Poland during the war, and he first saw him when the baby was nine months old.
“Just as my leave was ending and I was packing, he made his first ten steps toward me”, — Serhii recalls.
Asked whether he will stay in the army after victory, he answers honestly:
“I never wanted to serve, it just happened. When it was necessary — I went”, — he says.
He is awaited at his job, his forge, and most importantly — by his family.
For now, he continues to pass his experience to young fighters. For them, he is the reliable “uncle 35+” who knows how to survive, win, and hold the line.
