The international delegation, headed by Ana Lucía Bueno, ICRC Public Health Coordinator, and Sujit Panda, Head of the Physical Rehabilitation…
Border guard Serhii, with the call sign “Antytank”, now works with UAVs, 3D printers, and the search for innovative solutions.
The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine told Serhii’s story on February 26.
Serhii first became a border guard in 2020 after graduating from university. He completed his mandatory service in the Mukachevo detachment on the border with Romania and Hungary. He served as a dog handler. He recalls his two charges — Dina and Damira.
One of them arrived for training already pregnant and later gave birth to 12 puppies. She was no longer involved in training but added to Serhii’s workload, as she would not allow anyone else near her.
The young man served diligently on the western border until demobilization.
“Even on the last night before ‘demob’, we were still chasing ‘boxes’ — the smugglers ran away, but the goods stayed”, — Serhii recalls about his last day of service.
But civilian life did not last long. On February 24, 2022, Serhii was on his way to work. He was traveling from his hometown of Zhovkva to Lviv, while streams of people with children and pets were heading toward the border. Some even abandoned their cars and tried to reach Poland on foot.
“I was driving, not looking at my phone. Sirens, everyone saying — war. The next day I was already in the Lviv Border Detachment”, — the man says.
Then came coordination, duty on the border, the rapid-response Border Commandant’s Office “Shkval”, and the first combat deployment to Donetsk region as part of an anti-tank unit.
Since the end of 2022, Serhii has been mastering UAVs. First through volunteer courses, then through state training. For the next rotation to the Serebrianske forestry area, “Antytank” already went in as a drone operator. “The forest was green, beautiful — but not without ‘worms’”, — he says about the enemy.
Serhii notes that he has found true friends in service. But when he speaks of his best friend, he can barely hold back tears… War is a terrible thing, and he has had to learn the pain of loss.
Today “Antytank” serves in the “Orion” commandant’s office of the “Revenge” brigade. His workplace is the drone laboratory. Here UAVs are tested, flashed, and adapted for combat missions. “Our task is for the drone to arrive at the position fully ready. The pilot just has to connect the ammo and fly, without wasting time on setup”, — Serhii explains.
He praises the professionalism of his comrades: “They fly like gods”, though he adds that the unit currently lacks UAV operators — both aerial and ground-based.
Serhii constantly improves his skills: he completed training in the United Kingdom and maintains professional communication with colleagues who configure, modernize, and produce drones. He even literally “printed” his workstation on a 3D printer.
He also has a printer at home — he uses it to remotely print toys for his younger brothers and sister.
Serhii is confident that the skills he has gained during service will be useful after the war as well — whether professionally or as a hobby. And he is 100 percent certain: he will always have a dog at home.
