The direct speech of a Ukrainian soldier from the battlefield
The ratio of the shots of our artillery to the Russian was about one to five. And a few months before that — 1 to 20.
This is a direct speech from the city of Bakhmut, which was the hottest area before the counteroffensive began. The testimony is recorded by Anton Filatov, a soldier of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and in his previous life he was a journalist, expert on cinema, editor-in-chief, and a great guy. A long time ago we worked together and went to the Odessa Film Festival… Those were wonderful days that cannot be returned.
When we last time went to the position near Bakhmut, we had a mortar on reinforcements, but it often did not have shells, so it just stood idle. There were also two howitzers “777” in the first days, but they were destroyed.
One of our men worked at a nearby position and was good at repelling assaults. One day he launched a counterattack. Without artillery support, of course. He knocked the russians out of a nearby half-broken house and decided to assault further.
But in the next house, there was a trap — the enemy unexpectedly opened fire on him from the window. He fell into a very bad place that was under fire. I was afraid to crawl up to him. I’m not that young and strong.
One of our young men dared to quietly crawl to him and drag the wounded man around the corner while we covered them with fire. We picked him up there. The bullet hit him in the buttock. It was impossible to apply a tourniquet and completely stop the bleeding. It weighed somewhere around 100 kg (220lb), plus body armor, clothes, ammunition, etc.
It was dark and raining. The six of us dragged him through gardens and the ruins of bombed-out buildings. Shelling continued periodically. It was a little more than a kilometer to walk.
He was unconscious. While we were carrying the wounded man, he periodically regained consciousness. We were in a hurry and were wet through and through. At the SFC (Support Forces Command), we handed him over to the medics and sat down to rest. Soon the doctor said that our wounded soldier started bleeding internally. In those conditions, it was already impossible to save him. It was too late. Everything was in vain…
We took our daily bag of dry rations to the SFC and returned to the firing position. The commander said to put away from the bag all the canned pineapples and sprats which happened rarely. This is how the guys decided to save the most delicious because they wanted to open it for my birthday, which was to be in a couple of weeks.
A day before my birthday, I received two shrapnel wounds: in the hand and the face (ricochet from the helmet). If I had an open head at that moment, I would not be alive. I never saw the festive table on my birthday, but I survived.
In short, the boys celebrated without me. Next time we will celebrate together. It’s not too late.
End of direct speech.
I want to add something. People on the front lines are in terrible conditions. You can’t even imagine what is happening there. This is because russia has violated the Budapest Memorandum, which it signed in 1994. Instead of guaranteeing security to Ukraine, russia has invaded our lands and is killing women and children. This is a murderous country.
But its not to late to stop it.
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