"Everyone said it was "Operation 200". Vito chose guys and went to Left Bank - all of them returned, even without wounded": in memory of scout Vitalii Nesterenko (Vito)
Vito was a ship’s captain, but in 2022, he joined the AFU as a volunteer fighter and became a scout, the first to enter the enemy’s rear on Dnipro’s left bank, creating the preconditions for a bridgehead on the left bank of Kherson region. The soldiers of the 222nd Battalion of the 126th Brigade ask to consider their application and posthumously award the title of "Hero of Ukraine" to scout Vitalii Nesterenko, who never received any awards from the state during his lifetime.
The left bank... No need to explain what is being referred to. This is the left bank of the Dnipro River near Kherson, where our troops have been entering since May last year, having established a powerful foothold there to move on. But who and how found the opportunity to cross the river for the first time, to inflict losses on the enemy, who did not even realize that a group of Ukrainian soldiers had done so, how the reconnaissance of places took place, where it would be possible to swim across, is almost unknown in the public space. But there are people who were the first to go to the Left Bank. Unfortunately, the soldier who led the reconnaissance group later died there, in the Kherson region. But there are his comrades-in-arms who not only talk about how it all happened but also insist on awarding the fallen reconnaissance platoon commander Vitalii Nesterenko, call sign Vito, the title of "Hero of Ukraine".
HOW A SHIP'S CAPTAIN BECAME A RECONNAISSANCE PLATOON COMMANDER
- "To say briefly in a soldierlike style, he was a person for whom a man could cry," Taras Stetsenko, a fighter with the reconnaissance platoon of the 222nd Territorial Defense Battalion, call sign Briha, tells me.
- When, where and under what circumstances did you meet?
- We met during the war (laughs). He was appointed commander of our unit. Vitalii is from our battalion, where he was assigned at the beginning of the full-scale invasion. At first, he served in a rifle company. The command noticed him, marked him out, and it was excellent because this man had a talent for reconnaissance. He was appointed Commander of a Reconnaissance Platoon of the 222nd Separate Battalion.
- Did he serve somewhere else before, in the same intelligence service, for example?
- No. He was a civilian, a ship's captain.
- Wow! A sailor?
- Yes. I found out about it later, because he never talked about his achievements in civilian life, but they were there. We learned a lot from his mother and relatives at the commander's funeral.
- What impressed you personally about him?
- Vito felt very comfortable in the war. He had endurance for everything he did and was passionate about performing tasks of varying complexity. He never believed that any task could be impossible or difficult. He worked on the result and prepared thoroughly. He cared about the people who were with him - that everyone was safe, that everyone had the equipment they needed. You could say he was the father of our platoon.
- Can you explain how it happens that a sailor, a person with travel experience, also has a talent for intelligence? Or do the circumstances bring this out in a person?
- To call him a sailor, a man who loves traveling, is a very narrow description," Andrii Skorokhod, deputy commander of the 222nd Territorial Defence Battalion, joined our conversation. - To give you a little insight into this personality, I'll list a few very different characteristics of Vitalii. He graduated with honors from high school and then from the Naval Academy. He grew up without a father - he was very young when his father died, so he started taking care of and supporting his mother very early. Then he was an athlete, he loved boxing, participated in competitions, so he is a very disciplined person. He worked on himself constantly. Even during the war, he carried sports equipment with him, exercised, and improved himself. According to his friends, Vitalii never stopped training even during sailings. The next thing is that at the age of 29, this man has already become a ship captain - just imagine. This is an incredibly early age for such a position. No one would have put a person in such a high position without the appropriate performance. He had no bad habits. He was very kind. He took great care of his mother. His mother, and everyone who attended the funeral - relatives, friends, and even neighbors - said that they just dreamed of such a son.
He had a patriotic mindset. When the full-scale invasion began, he joined the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces as a volunteer fighter from the very first days. I would also like to add that as the captain of the ship, he was captured together with his crew in Egypt. The vessel was arrested by security forces, our sailors were imprisoned, and the procedure lasted for weeks. The entire crew was subjected to physical violence, in other words, they were beaten to suppress their morale and persuade them to give the necessary testimony. But this did not break him.
- Did Vitalii tell you about this?
- He told a very limited number of people. For example, I learned about it from him when we had been serving together for a year. One day he told me about it...
What made him stand out? His perseverance. Very few people have this: when a person does his job while he is in hot water. There are very few people like that. This sometimes surprises you, you wonder if the person really has this attitude to performing tasks or is imitating it. It is a rare thing to meet such a person. He was very scrupulous, he treated every case very carefully. We could discuss all the details of the task that we were planning three or four times.
You asked me why he got into the intelligence service and this position. I will tell you. There is an element of fate here. There are people who believe in fate, and there are those who do not. I believe in it. And using Vitalii's example, I will say that there was definitely fate involved. When he was drafted, and the battalion began to form on 9-10 March 2022, he was planned to be a Reconnaissance Platoon Commander. I didn't know how it happened, but there were some reshuffles, and he was unexpectedly assigned to a rifle platoon. Well, it happened, and he served as a Rifle Platoon Commander for seven or eight months, maybe even a little more. But if you are destined to serve, then... Time passed, the Reconnaissance Platoon Commander did not fit in this position and it became vacant. The question arose as to whom to appoint to this position. For me personally, as a commander, he was the number one candidate. I saw how he behaved during combat operations, how he acted, what moral and managerial qualities he had, whether he was still passionate and had a desire to work. Because a scout, you know, has to be a kind of fanatical person. There must be a fanaticism for intelligence activities, for sure. Motivation - definitely. It can't be like this: I don't want to, I don't want to, I'm just a good guy, etc... No, a person must be motivated, ready for physical and moral stress. I met with him, talked to him, and then asked him a question directly: "Are you ready to work as a scout?" Without hesitation, he said: "Commander, yes, I am ready to work". And we appointed him. Still, fate took its course. He headed the platoon he was supposed to lead initially anyway.
And here, you know, another characteristic was displayed - the person wanted to learn. This is a huge factor! We trained him, he additionally trained himself, trained the personnel, improved the platoon's equipment. Little by little, everything was coming together, forming. We selected people for him, discussed each of them. Thus, a new reconnaissance platoon team was formed. We started working. When we saw that people were ready to perform tasks, we slowly moved from elementary tasks to the most difficult ones. I say that as a person whom I believed, whom I recommended for this position, he satisfied me one hundred percent. I served with many officers in intelligence units, and I met many different ones. And this man satisfied me completely. I set him tasks - he fulfilled them, found solutions. And most importantly, he cared about people and cared about getting the job done. He never risked people thoughtlessly.
"IT WAS NECESSARY NOT ONLY TO ENTER THE LEFT BANK BUT TO DESTROY THE ENEMY AND HIS EQUIPMENT. THAT'S WHAT VITO'S GROUP DID."
- I understand that Vitaliy was almost the first to enter the left bank. When was that?
- In May 2023. Vitalii led a reconnaissance group of our reconnaissance platoon. The task was to go to the left bank to the rear of the enemy's combat formations, which were located along the coast, carry out certain actions and return back. He performed everything flawlessly.
- How did you plan it? You had to cross the Dnipro... Even I understand that the enemy sees this happening.
- Crossing the Dnipro was almost nothing. In addition to the river, we had to overcome straits, some small rivers, two islands... Overcome the enemy's surveillance system - UAVs were on duty there 24/7... Overcome the system of enemy observation posts on the left bank... And also fields with minefields. This is what is meant by the phrase: "to go to the left bank".
- "At the time when the preliminary task was set to complete this mission, many people who joined the platoon later - in January, February, March - did not trust the commander very much. Not even that they didn't trust him, but rather had doubts that it could be done," Taras adds. - "When there was talk of this operation, even those who were not involved in its implementation unanimously said that it was "Operation 200." That is, none of those who went there would return. Vito chose those whom he deemed necessary. We went and everyone came back, no one was even wounded. After that, his authority in the eyes of the soldiers rose greatly, they began to trust him. They trusted where he was leading, what he was doing, what he was ordering. "
- But he went with the people, did not stay on the right bank, did not watch the group that left...
- Yes, he did. I'll tell you more: from my point of view, this may not be the right thing for a commander to do, but he always went ahead," says Taras. - "He never let anyone go ahead of him. There are certain things that need to be observed: "The commander has to be the commander, if anything, you have to stay alive and take control." - "No. I go first - that's it". This greatly increased his authority and trust in the eyes of people.
- We had a very sincere working relationship with him. This task was prepared for about five months, so you understand. In January 2023, this idea was born - and we gradually came to this," adds the deputy battalion commander. - "Firstly, Vito has been working with people all this time. All the time, he was slowly asking them questions, monitoring who wanted to join, studying the mood of the team. To understand the complexity, this is a task of the level of the SOF (Special Operations Forces), Defence Intelligence of Ukraine. And we planned to accomplish this task with a simple reconnaissance platoon of the TDF (Territorial Defense Forces) ! First of all, we had to work out the material base very carefully, everything that was needed. You have been told how many areas, how many different obstacles we had to overcome. To do this, we needed different types of boats, equipment for each soldier, some special things... Plus, we had to train in normal conditions beforehand.
- What do you mean by "some things" - can you explain?
- For example, diving suits. No one gave them to us, we had no experience of using them. We had to find them, learn how to work with them, check whether people would be comfortable in them, how they would feel in the water - a lot of things. It took the lion's share of time. By the way, the material issue was very limiting for us. First, we calculated what we needed to make everything happen. Then we got it and tested it. And only after that we could be sure that we could complete the route. Even if we took boats, only a few people at that time had ever used them, and most of them had never even rowed. That's why we spent six months quietly preparing for this task.
- What was the task? Was it to show that it was possible?
- The goal was to commit an act of sabotage, to destroy the enemy and its equipment. We knew exactly where we were going and why. Everything was planned by the hour, by the day. It was a multi-day operation that took over a week to complete.
- Now they have left, and you are still here, keeping an eye on the group through various means. How did you wait for their return? How much was your heart sinking all these days? " I ask the deputy battalion commander.
- Of course, my heart was sinking. The biggest concern was the issue of strong enemy electronic warfare suppression. This caused serious problems with communication. Our fighters rarely got in touch. And when there is no communication, you worry the most. The task consisted of several stages. Some stages were intermediate, and the main event of task execution was to take place at the main stage. That's when I was particularly worried...
- Did the enemy not expect to be approached so closely?
- Of course not. Come on - May 2023... Before that, there were engagements on the islands, closer to Kherson. Sometime in January or February, one of the SOF or DIU units up the Dnipro, somewhere near Nova Kakhovka, carried out a raid on the left bank, shot at a Russian position and retreated. But not everything went smoothly there: there were wounded, damaged boats, retreating under heavy enemy fire in the wake. That was basically all that happened in this area of this format. I mean the tasks that involved crossing the Dnipro. Of course, what we were doing was completely secret, we maintained maximum secrecy so that in no case the information would be leaked.
- When did the group return?
- Only two days after completing the main stage of the task.
- I take it that even before that you already knew that the task had been completed?
- Of course. The enemy didn't even realize that a sabotage group was working. They still don't understand what it was. When we seized a prisoner from that direction in August, he said: "The paratroopers told me it was the hit of a precision-guided shell". There was nothing on the radio, no one alerted the personnel, there were no UAVs, no search groups, nothing at all. They performed the task so well, so precisely, that the enemy thought it was a precision shell that had hit and destroyed the equipment and personnel.
We knew the task was completed, but we needed confirmation. The next day, we sent a UAV to fly over and take pictures of the location of the assigned task. Only then did I believe one hundred percent that everything was done correctly. I showed it to some of my subordinates and colleagues only after the group returned. Because scouts have a rule: the task is completed when the group returns home.
- Such expectations... You knew they were swimming back. How were they greeted? How exhausted were they? How did Vitalii behave?
- They were very tired. And at the same time, Vitalii was so excited - wow! You just don't understand: it was an extremely difficult task. Only contract scouts who have been preparing and training for years could do this. I know what I'm talking about. I told our group: "Guys, if you complete this task, you will simply raise your level to the level of the SOF and the DIU. Because this is a very serious task".
To be honest, I was no longer worried about their return. I was worried when they entered the left bank and spent a certain amount of time there. There was no communication. Only occasionally, you received small messages, started to analyze them and understood what was going on.
One more point. Reconnaissance men always understand that there is a task, there is planning, but in 99 or even hundred percent of cases, when you start performing it, unforeseen circumstances arise in the course of actions that force you to make decisions, adjust a little, postpone something... It was the same here, there were a number of moments that affected the performance of the task. But, thank God, we coped with everything, made the right decisions in time, and made adjustments. The task was completed with an A+. We destroyed the enemy's equipment and manpower. And the enemy is a serious one. Opposite us was the 56th Parachute Regiment of the Russian Airborne Forces, not some small rifle battalion, but a very serious enemy.
- Professionals, trained in...
- Yes. And they are very well-armed.
- And they didn't even realize what had happened...
- They didn't understand! This is very pleasing. The task was extremely difficult, but it was completed with an A+. The guys passed the baptism of fire as scouts, real scouts.
"VITALII HAS NOT YET RECEIVED ANY AWARDS FROM THE STATE"
- "Did you go with the commander? " I ask Taras. - They say that scouts often make mistakes on their way back. How exhausted and tired were you? And when did you feel you could relax?
- To be honest, Vitalii was constantly looking for mistakes. He also believed that the task could only be called completed when we reported it to the command. He had everything under control. There were no trifles for him, he paid attention to everything. Everybody saw it, everybody understood... After completing the task, a day or two later, we would sit down and analyze the mistakes: why it happened, what we should do next time. That's how we worked.
When we returned, of course, we wanted to rest. During the mission, there were such conditions there that were impossible to predict. We had information primarily from drones. But you can't feel the ground from a drone, you can't tell what it is like. If you can see green grass from above, the ground looks like there is a place to hide, then when you go in, it turns out to be a swamp and green duckweed (laughs). And you have to walk through this swamp for a kilometer. It was an additional burden that no one expected.
- I would also like to emphasize the value of this mission," adds the battalion's deputy commander. - "That route, that opportunity that was used during its execution - everything was used at least two more times afterwards. And the enemy did not know about it. The August capture of the bridgeheads on the left bank of the Dnipro River was made possible by this well-trodden route. Vitalii used this route twice more to perform different tasks. Even before the assault groups of friendly units entered the left bank, Vitalii and his reconnaissance group were the first to enter. That is, the road was treaded in May 2023 by a reconnaissance platoon of the 222nd Battalion of the TDF. A route was carved to safely cross all the mentioned obstacles in the form of minefields, enemy observation posts... Our reconnaissance group managed to overcome all this, go there (repeatedly!), and then lead groups of other units. Later, we also worked on the left bank with joint reconnaissance groups, destroying, again, the manpower of the Russian airborne forces.
- And in the future, to consolidate and establish a foothold.
- Yes. Therefore, this task was complex, unique, and, as it turned out, had such a crucial pre-condition in this site of the Dnipro.
- How did Vitalii die?
- It happened on 4 October 2023. The enemy landed on the area of the islands controlled by us and tried to gain a foothold there. The task of Vitalii's reconnaissance group was to take up this area before they landed and ambush them. We calculated that they would land there. But it turned out that the enemy had entered the area three or four hours earlier. There was a firefight with the enemy. The enemy was forced out of the island and killed while retreating, but in the battle, Vitalii "caught" a machine gun burst.
- Was his body removed immediately?
- Yes, immediately. He was still alive for a while, but his wound was incompatible with life.
- I understand that this is demoralizing. It seems that this cannot happen to a person who has already done so much in this area.
- Of course, it demoralizes both subordinates and the command. After all, this person played a key role and had a lot of experience.
- I understand that the idea to nominate him for the Hero of Ukraine award came from the unit immediately.
- Of course! After completing the May mission, he was nominated for the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, third grade. And his fellow soldiers - some of them were awarded the Order for Courage, some of them the Steel Cross. We, the battalion and our military unit, did everything we could. Unfortunately, for some reason unknown to us... a month, two, three passed, and no one awarded Vitalii. Nowadays, in principle, there are no problems with awards, orders and medals are given to those who need them, and what is there to hide - sometimes to those who do not. We have not even seen the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky for Vitalii.
- Did the guys get any awards?
- The guys also did not receive any awards for that task, and nothing ever came. This is also a very interesting mystery for us.
They started promoting the idea of him getting a personal firearm. Several times he was offered it... They said: go get it. But something went wrong. The second time they told him to go and get it. I went with him to Mykolaiv. It was an official invitation! It means that all the documents have been processed. We arrived. They gathered soldiers from different units. They brought a box with Glock 17s, Beretta M9s, and some other awards and started to hand them out. It was in the summer, a couple of months after the mission was completed. Almost everyone who was there was given Glocks and Berettas. And we - Vitalii was given a knife, I was given a medal... But it doesn't work that way. When the military goes to receive incentives, especially from the Minister of Defense, everyone knows in advance who and what they will receive. We were told clearly: you will receive firearms. I was happy for Vitalii: he was an outstanding person - no one had ever entered the other bank before him. But as a result, the higher command did not appreciate his merits... The next time, when all the issues seemed to be resolved, he was supposed to be handed a firearm sometime in late September. They postponed it again, saying that they would definitely hand it over on October 1... And on the fourth, he went to perform a mission and died. He was never presented with a weapon or the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi.
- And they didn't hand it over posthumously, did they?
- No! It is mind-boggling at all. We already nominated Vitalii for the Hero, after his death, of course. We hope that justice will prevail...
- It is said that the nomination for the Hero of Ukraine should include several facts of extraordinary deeds.
- Vito had so many facts! That's more than enough! He went to the other bank three times and completed the task. Then our reconnaissance platoon, as part of a joint reconnaissance group, mopped up a bridgehead on the left bank, captured many prisoners (eight, it seems), and killed many more in the process. On our side, no one was wounded or killed during the mopping up. Isn't this the result? He returned his subordinates from all the missions alive and unharmed. The question is why the man was not awarded while he was still alive.
- Is this a painful question for you?
- Yes, it is painful. This is not normal. I see officials in other units receiving high awards - but they have not done even 50 per cent of what this person has done. I'll tell you something: some scouts whom we know well came to Mykolaiv to attend the award ceremony with us. And those scouts were awarded pistols, but he was not. We understood that the tasks they performed were just heaven and earth compared to the operation we conducted in May.
- To what extent does the platoon still stand on Vitaliy's authority? Does the inertia and power of his personality continue to work?
- Let's just say that he was the main key in this piano. So it is very difficult without him. There is no replacement for him, we still do not have a commander who could replace him. We already have an understanding of what a commander should be like. And I think it is very difficult, maybe even impossible, for our command to find a replacement. Everything depended on him.
The unit is friendly. The level he reached was very high. Vito constantly monitored people, kept an eye on their moral and psychological state. He was worried about them, and if necessary, asked for them: "Let's send him away, let him rest". There were different moments. There are few commanders who worry about their subordinates as much as he does. Therefore, people have a clear image of what a real commander should be like - both during combat missions and in everyday life. He still unites the unit. The achievements, the work done, a certain standard in the work, in the performance of tasks, of course, he is and will be. But it is very difficult to find a replacement for this commander.
Vito was so stickler in some matters... He could come and ask me three questions, and we could discuss these questions for two hours, three hours. We'd discuss one, two, three, and then we'd go back to the first one... I sometimes even experimented. Sometimes I would say: "We have discussed everything. That's it. Let's go to work." And sometimes I waited to see how long he'd hold out. We discussed it once, twice, thrice, four times... Two and a half hours passed, I thought: "Come on, come on some more..." And he again: "What else? "Yes, we have clarified this, and this, and this..." And when three hours had passed, he said: "I think we've solved everything." I said: "Of course. Four times the same thing..." I remember this all the time. This was a peculiarity of the man. This is how he worked. And this is normal. But you had to get used to it.
- He was old-fashioned, " Taras adds. - "You listen to modern music," he says: "Yeah... I am called old-fashioned - I'd rather listen to Vakhtang Kikabidze now"(laughs). He had no wife, no bride. He told me: "Modern girls want something all the time... They need something modern." At the same time, he followed the developments in the war, and he involved himself in everything that was new as much as possible. He was always looking to the future, he wanted to do something useful... He had a headstrongness for the struggle, for the liberation of Ukraine, for the destruction of the enemy. Because he was a risk taker, and he liked it. He was in his place here. I told him: "Why don't you join the military, sign a contract?" - "No, no, I have my specialty - I am a sailor, a ship captain. When the war is over, I will return to the sea..."
Violetta Kirtoka, Censor. NET
