“Guys by the cannon count on me”: History of wounding and returning to the front of a soldier with a call sign “ashes”

Vadim with the call sign “ash” never planned to become a military. Before the Great War, he lived a peaceful life in Khmelnitsky, worked in a private firm, traded dairy products. Once upon a time, in the late 1990s, he served as a driver and did not even want to be released, but adaptation to civilian life after the army was not difficult.

The history of the soldier was published on the page of the 148th separate artillery brigade of the landing and assault troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

On February 23, 2022 he was at the concert “No restrictions”, feeling anxious premonition. The next morning the war began. The first thing Vadim evacuated his family. Friends and acquaintances who have passed the ATO advised not to rush to the military enlistment office – “Your turn will come.” And it came in the spring of 2023.

In the military enlistment office, Vadim was determined by the driver in the artillery brigade of landing troops. “I am driving all my life, so this position was not a surprise,” he remembers. But the war quickly taught that the ability to drive is only a small part of the tasks that you have to do.

Every week, ashes with brothers drive more than a thousand kilometers with ammunition on broken roads and viscous fields. It not only delivers the shells, but also helps to move guns after the battle. Rolling is always a danger, because the enemy has already calculated a position and can strike at any moment. “Sometimes we fit in 15-20 minutes, and it happens that we get stuck for an hour,” he says.

Another feature of the work is the constant waiting. “We can sit in the north with a full body of shells, waiting for the moment when the enemy will give us a window for safe unloading. Sometimes we have to hide and wait for shelling, because it is impossible to retreat – the infantry counts on us. ”

Also, many in the lives of artillerymen decide meteorological dependence. “We will constantly monitor the weather. If, for example, at 23:00 there is a full moon, we need to do everything before the enemy gets better visibility. ” But this is a game on two sides – the Russians work on the same principle.

The war does not allow you to relax. “It was still calmer in Zaporozhye. But now no. FPV drones have become our daily threat. Air and the edges do not see everything. On the day, when the FPV flew into our car, we were already far from fire, went without headlights with a night light, and even the command said that there was no threat. But the enemy drone found us and hit the roof. ”

The blow came between him and the driver. “My left side has suffered, he has right. Sliding, torn wounds, contusion. They assisted each other, we were picked up by our pickup and quickly sent us to the stabbon. ”

Despite the injuries, Vadim returned to his work. “It was difficult. When he went to fire after treatment, even a panic attack covered. But fear goes. When it is difficult, I think about relatives and guys near the gun – they count on me, and the infantry counts on artillery. Everything is interconnected here. ”

Work without weekends. In addition to the shells, they carry food, parcels. Constantly optimize routes to make them faster and safer. And every night before bed, Vadim remembers the day experienced. “When the boats arrive nearby, you fall asleep with earth and debris, and even the windows are whole in the cars – you understand that God protects us.”

Vadim received the Medal “Iron Cross” for the service. “What does she mean to me? It’s more for my baby. Daddy pride. ”

As reported by the Armyinform, 28-year-old Alexander with a call sign “German”-a Dron-Bomber operator 128 of a separate mountain and assault Transcarpathian brigade. Prior to a full-scale invasion of Russia in Ukraine, he worked at the Mining and Processing Plant in Kryvyi Rih.