“Slavyansk was not for their teeth”: the story of the guard with the nickname Sena
The guard under the call of Senya told about participation in the battles in the Izyum direction. Currently, he stands in the defense of Sumy and serves in a separate battalion of the National Guard of Ukraine.
In February 2022, the fighter hit the Izyum direction as part of the 15th Slavic Regiment of the NGU. Actually there he, together with his brothers, was supposed to stop the invasion of the invaders on Slavyansk.
“My native Izium was occupied and taken control by the enemy in early March 2022. The parents managed to leave the city and not see the horrors and destruction suffered by the city and its inhabitants during the six-month occupation. I, at that time a guard sergeant, had to restrain the advance of the enemy from the Little Motherland to Slavyansk. The city, which was well fortified and had a clear defense plan, was ready to stand to the last. However, initially it was necessary to strengthen the intrigues to him as much as possible. That's what we did with our brothers,” says the guard.
Their positions were near the village of Dolyna. This is actually the border of Donetsk and Kharkiv regions, about two dozen kilometers to Slavyansk. It was this distance, says Senya, that the enemy had to overcome very slowly and with significant losses.
“There were some 400-500 meters to the enemy position. We positioned ourselves at the dam and received a clear order to hold this important object. Based on the realities on the battlefield, they had a clear order - in case of an enemy breakthrough, to blow up the dam that had been mined in advance and slow down the pace of their advance. They heard the interception of the enemy at the radio station, sometimes they answered them “politely” and in accessible language,” says Senya.
In the end, the Russians failed to break through to Slavyansk from any direction of their offensive. And half a year after the occupation, the Defense Forces during a powerful counteroffensive liberated almost the entire occupied Kharkiv region, including Izyum.
“What happened there for half a year and what they turned the city into is just terrible. Without any honor or dignity, neglecting all the rules and customs of war, they killed and robbed the locals. Woes and terrible ruins were left behind. Therefore, we have two main tasks — first to crush the occupiers and expel them from our land, and then to start rebuilding our cities and villages, rebuilding our independent Ukraine,” says the guard.
National Guard of Ukraine
