The international delegation, headed by Ana Lucía Bueno, ICRC Public Health Coordinator, and Sujit Panda, Head of the Physical Rehabilitation…
He talks about the assault in Kotlyne, which lasted more than 30 days, calmly and matter-of-factly, as if it were simply a job that needed to be done well.
The story of the fighter was told on the page of the 25th Separate Sicheslav Airborne Brigade of the Air Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
His call sign is “Dom”. And his main rule is to hold the position.
He entered the position as the senior member of a three-person group. They received their task in the evening; by morning, they were already on site. They entered, cleared the house, and secured themselves there. Later, two more soldiers joined them — their position had been hit by artillery and FPV drones.
Daily attempts by the enemy to break in. Constant tension. A tree line and a railway nearby — open approaches where every movement is visible and every movement is targeted.
For this assault, Dom received the Air Assault Forces Commander’s Award “For the Assault” and a patch that only a few possess. When asked what he felt then, he remains silent for a long time. He simply says — he did his job.
For him, this award is not about heroism. It is about enduring. Not losing composure. Not allowing panic. Completing the mission to the end.
Now his tasks are different, but no less difficult. His job is to reach the position, unload or evacuate the wounded, and return. And to do it so that everyone stays alive.
Every trip is its own story. Sometimes one per day. Sometimes three. And you never know which one will be the hardest.
“Once, we were driving to pick up the ‘three-hundreds’ from an adjacent company. The road was under heavy fire. Drones worked without pause. Near Pokrovsk, three FPVs met us, and at the spot — six more and a ‘Molniya’. The vehicle shook from blast waves, but we loaded the wounded and got them out”, — Dom recalls.
He always says “we”. Because a crew is a coordinated team where everyone knows what to do.
At home, his wife and two sons are waiting for him. The older is seven, the younger three. The younger was born during the war. His childhood consists of video calls and short conversations whenever the connection allows.
The fighter says that the hardest thing is not the assaults. The hardest thing is seeing your child grow through a screen.
He wants to simply walk into his own house. Not for a few days between rotations. But to return for real. To hug his children and be close to them.
