war story
Kharkiv region, Donbas, Ukraine - Sep 28, 2023
Brave heart
Brave
heart
aiThis story is about Kostya, my husband's friend, who was a high quality furniture maker before 2014. When the war started in Donbas, he could not stand aside. He went into the military and left his wife to manage his business.
aiKostya was sure that Ukraine would not lose the war in Donbas in 2014 thanks to the heroism of Ukrainians who became defenders and the great help of ordinary people who became volunteers and supported them from the first days, often risking their own lives too.
aiDuring his vacation from the front, Kostya visited our family. We talked about how they were fighting for the children - the future of Ukraine. My older son was ten years old then and my younger son three.
aiLater, Kostya returned home to live as a civilian. He made furniture again and had a peaceful life. In January 2022 he even made a bed for my younger son who was already 10, seven years had passed.
aiThen came February 24, 2022.... We met Kostya that evening. He took his family to his parents, to a safer place than Kharkiv. And the next day he was already in the war, in the same unit where he had fought before.
aiAt Kostya's request, his military superiors gave him the opportunity to form a military intelligence group. During March, April and May, as a chief of the intelligence group in the Izum direction, Kostya operated in the hottest spots of the Kharkiv and Donbas regions: Barvinkove, Lisichansk, Bakchmut, Zayceve, Kodema, Semigir'ya.
Even though saving the lives of soldiers is a priority for the Ukrainian military leadership, we lose our best sons and daughters in battle.
aiIn the early spring of 2022 Kostya's group prevented the enemy from establishing a crossing over the Siverskyi Donets River which was strategically very important. Encouraged, at the end of March, they tried to pass through the settlement that the enemy had already stormed, but the group was shot by three Russian tanks. Miraculously our fighters got away and survived.
aiDuring another enemy attack, Kostya was wounded. On an SUV, five injured soldiers managed to get to the evacuation center in Bakchmut. Unfortunately, doctors were unable to save one of them, he died.
aiIt hurts deeply to lose brothers in arms. And even though saving the lives of soldiers is a priority for the Ukrainian military leadership, we lose our best sons and daughters in battle. The enemy is ruthless. The heroism of our defenders can't be overestimated.
aiKostya was treated in the hospital for a few months. They had to operate and remove a projectile's fragment from his hip. Soon after, he took part as an instructor in building a new military unit.
aiNow since August 2023, Kostya has been fighting again for our freedom and independence in the Kharkiv region. Our brave friend, along with his brothers-in-arms, are carrying out important combat missions near the towns of Kupiansk and Bakchmut, both extremely dangerous. He hasn`t lost his optimism and trust in Ukrainian Victory.
aiQuoting Kostya in his Independence Day congratulatory speech for Valery Zaluzhny, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: "Hope for the future makes us stronger!"
good man
at work
friends
good man
at work
friends
