Passed through the hell of war: the story of a 22-year-old border guard with the nickname “Small” (VIDEO)
His nickname is Maly, but his actions are heroic. In his 22 years, the border guard of the Chernivtsi detachment Denis took part in the fiercest battles in the east of Ukraine.
Denis began his military career of his own accord in 2020, signing a contract with the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. The beginning of the war was met on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border.
“In the middle of the night, the unit was raised under the command “To Battle”. We received weapons, ammunition in a hurry and were ready to perform combat tasks. Then they felt the first shooting,” the guy recalls.
Maly received his first combat experience in the Luhansk region. Recalls that at first there was complete ignorance, no one knew where exactly the unit was going. Later, I found out that he was in the hottest spot at that moment — Lysychansk.
Denis and his comrades held a defined position, but the enemy noticed them and began to target fire. With each hour, the intensity of the shelling increased.
“The DRG came at us. The enemy wanted to advance on our positions because they were advantageous to him. We occupied a certain height, there was a very good overview of the terrain, but we were able, despite the fact that this was our first contact with the enemy, repel the attack without losses, without injuries, successfully,” says the border guard.
Then there was fierce fighting in the Bakhmut direction, where Denis was wounded.
“I only remember the beginning. We then carried out a combat mission in an active combat zone on the line of contact with the enemy. Heavy street fighting continued, then we occupied the defense in a 5-storey building at the extreme entrance, and we were attacked from everything: from grenade launchers, mortars, artillery shells, everything in general,” Maly says.
One of the direct hits came on the second floor, where the border guard was. It was possible to evacuate only with the arrival of darkness. Despite his own injury, Denis and his friend were able to pull the badly wounded brother on himself and save his leg.
There was room at the front and touching moments. Denis met his father, almost after a year of separation. At first, the father, who fights in one of the units of the Armed Forces, could not believe that his son was also destroying the enemy in the Bakhmut direction.
After the Victory, Denis and his father dream of visiting the already rebuilt peaceful cities of Ukraine, but for the time being they protect them from the ferocious enemy.
State Border Guard Service of Ukraine
