“His story was told at the General Staff of the Armed Forces. In the first days of the full-scale Russian invasion, he voluntarily joined the TCC, however, due to the lack of military service, he was not accepted…”, — write on: armyinform.com.ua
Read for: 3 min. January 7, 2025, 9:21 p.m
30-year-old Roman, a sergeant in the mountain assault platoon, serves in the 128th separate mountain assault Transcarpathian brigade. His story was told at the General Staff of the Armed Forces.
In the first days of the full-scale Russian invasion, he voluntarily joined the TCC, however, due to lack of military service, he was not accepted into the Armed Forces.
In April 2023, Roman again volunteered and became a soldier of the 128th OGSHBr.
“I got to the front line just before the counteroffensive in the summer of the 23rd, took part in the assaults, and was the commander of the unit. These were tough battles, but our company took a strip 1,200 meters wide and entrenched itself in the captured positions. the Russians have repeatedly tried to return what they lost,” he said.
According to him, he and his comrades held two points, one of which was a former Russian dugout.
“And the enemy tank began to methodically “disassemble” them – in the morning, at noon and in the evening. Lupane will hide from one position, then from another and hide again. They knew the location well…” Roman said.
During one of these attacks, a projectile hit an anti-tank mine in front of the bridge.
“I was lying down, and there was an explosion with a bright pillar of flame. The blast wave sealed the two comrades against the trench wall. One of them, coming to himself, shouted: “Elephant, where are you?” And then he saw my torn pants and said: “That’s it, there is no Elephant…” I hear this and answer – and here I am, everything is fine… I just got a concussion” , he recalled.
Roman said that at night they were changed positions.
“When we were leaving, my friend noticed two shrapnel holes on my hood. I always wear a hood over my helmet, it’s made of strong, slippery fabric and it saved me – the shrapnel ricocheted off the helmet instead of piercing it. I was very lucky then. And there were many such situations…” he assures.
Roman has the most difficult combat memories from the defense of Robotyny. At that time, Ukrainian infantrymen withstood constant Russian assaults with the support of armored vehicles.
“We were stormed by both professionals and some homeless people or convicts without body armor and automatic weapons, with only grenades. We took many prisoners then. There were a lot of enemy corpses lying there from past battles – only bones and Russian jackets remained, no one took them away…”, Roman remarked.
Recently, classes with newly arrived fighters have been added to his duties. Before being sent to combat positions, everyone undergoes special training in conditions close to combat.
“I immediately see how ready a person is. Sometimes, a novice begins to get lost, he may, for example, not take the machine on the fuse and turn the barrel on his comrades. You have to work with them additionally. A significant part of the new recruits understands where they got to, they will be useful. Although training is one thing, and combat tasks are another,” he noted.
Before each exit, Roman asks his group if everyone is ready.
“Sometimes, a fighter says he is ready, but I see that he is not. Then I say – wait, you will go next time. “I don’t need problems at zero,” said the man.
Carrying out difficult and dangerous combat tasks made Roman a cold-blooded and sensible person. He treats young, healthy men who are resting and having fun in the rear without emotion.
“If he doesn’t want to fight, he won’t be of any use here. I personally will not take such a person to the position, because you cannot rely on him in a critical situation. I will tell you about such a case. One of our fighters successfully passed the training, but when he first got into combat positions, he couldn’t do it – he didn’t like it.
For a while he performed various tasks in the rear, was in another platoon, then he got to me. We periodically talked about various topics, and then I asked – are you ready to fight or not? “Ready,” he says. And he was able, he succeeded, he even became the commander of the department… Each of us has a fear, I was also afraid,” Roman emphasized.
He has a comrade with the call sign “Bumper”, who was wounded during a combat trip, after which he cannot fight.
“Very good attack aircraft. He returned to us and is engaged in security, for which he is respected. But he will not go on combat missions due to his health. This is how one good person falls out, another… New ones come in their place, and everyone has to find their own approach, start all over again. This is war…”, Roman summed up.
As ArmiyaInform reported, during a massive attack by Russian troops in December 2024, a Ukrainian F-16 fighter pilot destroyed six enemy cruise missiles in one sortie. This is the first time in the history of the use of the American Fighting Falcon fighter.
