Fighters from "Skelia" evacuated two soldiers from their position who had been surrounded for year

Author: Bohdan Papadin

On March 18, news broke online about a soldier from the "Skelia" regiment who rescued two soldiers from the 30th SMB who had been holding their positions for a year. We waited for this soldier to return from his mission so we could interview him and share his story with you.

 The events themselves unfolded in the village of Mankivka. This is a settlement on the Bakhmut–Sloviansk road, along which the enemy is currently attempting to advance. It is worth noting that during this operation, the Skelia Regiment eliminated over 40 Russian occupiers and also relieved the positions of the 30th SMB, which at that point were practically surrounded.

Yevhen Tsandu:When we went in, we went in at night, because we couldn’t go in during the day. They rushed us through everything so we wouldn’t get stuck anywhere, wouldn’t stop, so no one would spot us, so there wouldn’t be any airstrikes on the spot where we were supposed to go. And it turned out that my partner and I ended up in a position where there was a warehouse; it had been destroyed. We could only crawl through, without body armour, without anything; we’d taken everything off. We got in there, and the lads had dug themselves in about three metres deep. Eight men from the 30th. They were all 300; we had to get them all out.

Had they been in that position for a long time?

Yes, some for eight months, some for six, some for a year. I immediately reported that we were already in cover. And we were there for two days. An order came, so to speak, from their command, to evacuate two people; I understood that these were the most seriously injured. One had a wounded arm, another had a frostbitten leg; I understood he’d developed gangrene because his toes were already falling off. That sort of thing. Then the order came over the radio; I understood everything. We set off around 11 or 12 at night and I led the lads. I cheered them up, of course, saying, ‘Lads, you’re going home, we need to get you out of here.’ And so we went.

How long did it take you to withdraw from the position?

We left at around 11–11.30 pm and had just left the position by morning. We were almost there, when we hadn’t yet reached the evacuation point—we’d covered about half the distance—they spotted us and we were in these raincoats, hiding a bit; we were sitting there for about 20 minutes, maybe half an hour, not moving at all. There were drones and reconnaissance UAVs flying overhead, everything was flying above us. They started dropping from drones about a hundred metres from us; they’d spotted the dogs there, because we heard the dogs; they stormed them first, and then got closer and closer, until even these lads were saying, ‘Make a decision.’ I said, ‘What’s there to decide?’ We just took to our heels. And we still had 50 metres to go to reach cover. As we were walking along the landing, I looked and saw a path. I followed that path and, lo and behold, there was a shelter. I told the lads, ‘Let’s get to the shelter.’ I immediately got on the radio and reported to headquarters that we’d found a shelter and were now inside it. So we spent the night there, and we stayed there until nightfall the next day, and at about 11 o’clock the command got in touch with me; I told them where we were, and they picked us up from there, taking us to those very 50 metres we hadn’t reached; there were two more of our lads there. We’d been there for a day, and at night we started moving again; on orders, we set off for evacuation. I led the lads first, and Jus and Dad followed behind. We got there, the lads had already been put in, and two more lads arrived; they’d brought one prisoner, and another of our lads had been hit by a ‘petal’. His leg was shattered, and he was taken away by the ambulance; he was wounded. And we, the lads, had already arrived from the 30th, six of us. Jus took the first three, I took the other three and went behind. I led them back to the village again.

Back to the village again?

We went back to the village again, brought the lads from the 30th Brigade. We split the lads up between the posts, spread them out. And I still had two fighters left without raincoats. I had to go back; I’d left them in the woods. So I fetched the raincoats at night and went back for the lads. I picked them up and took them back to the village again.

How many kilometres did you cover?

Roughly speaking, 6.5–7 kilometres each way. That’s right, back and forth, back and forth. My feet, of course, were killing me. But what could I do? I had to. That’s how we walked.

You said you were injured at night?

Yes, yes. And there was some rebar lying there, well, a bit of rebar, a piece of rebar, you could see that bit, it was white, and a piece of rebar was sticking out, I caught my foot on it and fell on my knee, I bruised my knee badly. So that’s how I walked, I had to; I wrapped it up with an elastic bandage, and that’s how I walked right to the very end.

How did events unfold in the village after that?

There were, of course, some good battles. The Russians were advancing, quite fiercely. And our lads put up a good fight too. A proper fight. There was Bilyi, Osa, and our lads were doing a good job there too; all the lads were doing their bit. Early in the morning, when we weren’t sleeping, we took turns; we had to keep watch. It was my turn on duty; I was there doing something, I’d just put the kettle on, thinking it was morning, dawn, thinking the lads would get up and we’d have a cup of tea. 

I heard someone shuffling, shuffling. I grabbed my rifle; he’d come over on his own, so I had him in my sights. We took him prisoner, disarmed him, and interrogated him.

 He knew what was going on; he’d been in Orekhovo. His feet were frostbitten too; he was on his way to be evacuated.
He had a radio, a phone, a military ID and a first-aid kit. There were cigarettes in there; he had nothing else. And an automatic rifle. One magazine; the rifle was completely rusty; I could barely knock a round out of the chamber. I say, ‘How on earth did you fire it?’ He says, ‘I’ve only fired it during training.’ 

Well, when a prisoner of war turned up, that’s when we had two. The Russians had got in there. Well, of course, we were warned over the radio that they were coming for us. Well, basically, we don’t know whether we wiped them out or not, so to speak. My partner from the 30th Brigade’s rifle jammed; he could only fire single shots. But I was firing in bursts. I reckon we hit someone there.

We already knew my knee was badly injured. So there I was with the prisoner, and two other lads set off for the evacuation point. We already had two wounded of our own, our lads. We’d set off with the prisoner, and just as we were nearing the evacuation point, command told us over the radio that we needed to pick up one of our lads somewhere. We immediately thought we wouldn’t be able to carry him. We had to drag him out of the woodland, cut through his armour – he was completely encased in it – until we’d cut everything open and freed him. It was thick with undergrowth and branches everywhere; it was very hard to pull him out. We’d dragged him along the edge of the woodland and were already figuring out how to carry him. Well, of course, we took him along with the wounded and the arrested man. I untied his hands; he practically carried him on his back for half the journey. Of course, we helped; we supported him on either side, and we carried his legs too; he only carried the main part of the body himself. When he couldn’t manage any longer, then I carried him, because the lads were wounded. I was on one knee, but never mind. Sometimes the four of us would take turns, because we couldn’t carry him any longer.

You carried the body of your fallen comrade out, didn’t you? So that he could be buried with dignity?

Yes.

How long did you spend in that village?

11 days.

How did you end up in the army?

Like everyone else. I went to training in Balta, in the Odesa region. I went AWOL; I was at home for a month and a half. And then they took me away and brought me here.

Why did you go AWOL?

I only found out at the last minute that my mum had had a heart attack.

Who could I tell, because they were already herding us all onto the buses. What could I have said, because it was chaos. That’s how it was.

So you decided to go AWOL because of what happened with your mum?

Yes. Nobody would have helped me with that. Even if they’d let me go home for a couple of days to be with my mum, it would have been a problem.

How long were you here doing basic military training, in the regiment?

Well, I don’t know. All in all, if you think about it, probably about two months.

Was that your first combat sortie?

Yes. I wasn’t even scared. I didn’t even realise what it was. I didn’t feel a thing. Well, we’re quite close-knit, we supported each other. They’re decent lads, they understand each other.

How are you doing in terms of supplies? Is there anything you’re short of?

We’ve got everything. We’ve got absolutely everything we need.

Is everything fine with your pay? No one’s short-changing you, do they pay everything?

No, as soon as I arrived, straight from the front line, I even got my pay, I’ve already been paid. Everything’s great.

How’s your leg now? How are you feeling?

It’s getting a bit better. They’ve given me two weeks off so I don’t overexert myself. They’ll decide there; if they tell me to go back, I’ll go back. Wherever they tell me, wherever the orders are.