“Victory depends on each of us,” - a guard about the fighting in Luhansk region
Maxim with the nickname “Tsipa” has been serving in the ranks of the National Guard of Ukraine since 2019. Before the beginning of the full-scale invasion, he participated in the Joint Forces Operation in the Donetsk direction. After February 24, he performed combat missions in Kharkiv and Donetsk region. The most difficult battle was in Kreminna Luhansk region.
The guard recalls that one of the nights in the Kreminsk direction was very noisy, because enemy artillery and tanks worked on their positions:
“Then we were at the observation post and saw an enemy drone approaching us with a grenade. There were no thoughts to leave the post, we waited until he got as close as possible to bring him down. They managed to drop the projectile, but it did not touch us. Best of all, we left them without a drone.”
“Tsipa” says that the battle was quite difficult for 24 hours. The enemy tried by all means to reach them. As a result, two machine guns were hit by splinters, but this did not affect the unit or Maxim's defense ability. The guard was hit by a shock wave from a tank shell. He received wounds in his arm and leg, but, remembering his medical training, he imposed tourniquets on his own. Without hesitation, ran to the other brothers to find out the situation at the position.
“The most difficult thing is to help a person with a soft tissue injury, because it is difficult to identify where the artery is torn. When I was told that there were 300, I immediately came to provide first aid. I was very surprised by the coordinated actions of the units of the National Guard of Ukraine: while one group adequately repelled the enemy, the other group provided assistance and carried out evacuations. A relatively difficult wounded man was carried by 4 people under shelling, therefore, due to the efficiency, we have no losses. I no longer felt my legs and arms at that moment, but I realized that there was a lot of work. After the evacuation of the first wounded, I returned, pulled out the second, helped to reach the evacuation point, returned to the dungeon, found my weapon and continued the fight side by side with my brothers,” he said.
Maxim adds that after that, the Russian tank with a short break again worked on positions. The soldier decided to evacuate the wounded from another trench, because he knew the way, and in parallel firing, directed Ukrainian artillery on the radio.
“Everything can be seen better outside the trench, so it was the right decision,” comments the guard. According to the clear instructions of the guard, the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine managed to beat down the enemy tank, so the artillery fire was stopped.
“Cipa” recalls when he took to the evacuation point and returned to the position, he felt that he was walking as if on a hot frying pan with his feet. It turned out to be hypothermia of the limbs. After the requests of the brothers, I came to leave, but agreed to undergo treatment in order to return to health as soon as possible. Maxim did not lose motivation and returned to his brothers a few days after treatment.
“I will not give them a millimeter of Ukraine, whatever it is worth to me. I did not give up, because a lot of work was done by the Ukrainian Defense Forces for the liberation of settlements. And it is still necessary to make efforts to completely clear the lands of invaders. Victory depends on each of us,” the guard is sure.
National Guard of Ukraine
