One against two SRGs: how platoon commander Ihor Shymanskyi saved his group at cost of his own life
The relatives of soldier Ihor Shymanskyi (Shaman), who died in the summer of 2025 while covering the retreat of his subordinates after his platoon was ambushed, have reached out to the editorial staff of Censor.NET. He is remembered as a brave and dedicated commander who cared deeply for his men. Now, despite the fact that Ihor repeatedly carried out missions that others refused to undertake and ultimately gave his life for others, his body has still not been recovered.
FOLLOWING IN HIS PARENTS’ FOOTSTEPS
Ihor was born in 2003 in the village of Tokarivka in the Mykolaiv region. Both his parents have links to the military: his father served in artillery reconnaissance with the 53rd Separate Mechanised Brigade, and his mother still works for the Main Intelligence Directorate. So it might seem unsurprising that he chose a military career, but it was not a straightforward path.
His mother, Nataliia Shymanska, recalls that initially he did not choose a military career:
"Ever since he was a child, he dreamed of becoming a cardiologist. Then, when his father had served for almost nine years, he changed his mind. My husband and his father fell ill – he had been wounded, then developed cancer. He spent a year and a half in hospital, and afterwards our son said: ‘Mum, maybe I should follow in my dad’s footsteps after all?’. I said: ‘No, we’ve had enough of all that, go your own way.’ But he said he’d decided to enrol in a military college after 9th grade.
I said: "You’re doing so well at school; you’ve been top of the class for all nine years. Let’s do 10th and 11th grade, and then we’ll think about it." But he said he’d already made up his mind and would go to apply in Boiarka or Odesa. Boiarka is very far from us, so we tried Odesa.
He went on his own, enrolled in a military college with intensive military and physical training, and graduated with a gold medal. I thought that was the end of it, that there would be a different path. But he said he would continue his studies at the Kharkiv National Academy of the National Guard of Ukraine.
"You won’t get in there," I tried to convince him. And he said: "Mum, I got top marks in everything. And I know for a fact that I’m already in." I told him I wouldn’t give him any money to go there. But it turns out he’d already saved up the money.
I simply know what war is; I know it won’t end today or tomorrow. And that something… an unfortunate incident might happen, which actually happened. My son was very responsible, disciplined from childhood, serious, thoughtful.
He told me: ‘Come on, I can manage on my own.’ But how could he manage on his own when my husband fell ill and needed both medication and operations? A year and a half in hospital with stage 4 cancer. Thank God the doctors did everything successfully, thanks also to my children. And my husband has been living on for six years now. But after our grief, he says: ‘I’d rather have died myself than him.’
Ihor’s friend, Stanislav, also a soldier, recalls that Ihor studied not just for the sake of a degree. "He was sent everywhere for training, and he was like the right-hand man of the academy’s head. And that wasn’t for nothing. As a commander, he was a responsible commander. He cared deeply for his people and was terrified of losing them," he said.
Ihor’s girlfriend, Marianna Saulko, recalls that Shymanskyi had plans for a peaceful life, but understood that defending against the Russians was the priority:
"Ihor was a good man; he helped everyone when they needed it. He was a good commander too. His comrades recall that you could simply have a proper chat with him – he was the sort of person who would help anyone, be there for them, and explain things if anything wasn’t clear. In other words, he had many friends.
Of course, he dreamed of life after the war. He dreamed of learning to play the violin. But all that was put on hold because he knew this war would last a long time."
ONE AGAINST TWO ENEMY GROUPS
After graduating from the academy in 2025, Shymanskyi found himself in the 4th Operational Brigade ‘Rubizh’ (4th Battalion) in the Pokrovsk direction, taking up the post of platoon commander.
His comrades and Natalia recall that Ihor would take on the tasks that others refused. Once, our soldiers lost a large drone that was delivering food to them, and Ihor agreed to retrieve it from enemy territory. On another occasion, he rescued a soldier who had been fighting his way out of an encirclement for five days on his own.
In July 2025, his platoon was ambushed whilst on their way to a mission. Ihor drew the fire upon himself, ordering a retreat. According to the official report, two enemy squads were engaged against seven Ukrainian infantrymen in that battle.
"My son had no other choice but to save his group," recalls Natalia Shymanska. "I think that if you care about your subordinates, that’s exactly what you’d do. He saved them all. And he’d told me beforehand: if such a situation arose, that’s exactly what he’d do. Moreover he saw and knew what sort of lads he was going in with – completely untrained, with no preparation. On 17 July, he said: ‘Mum, there’s no one to go with there; I don’t know what will happen; the only one who can cover me is Dima. At worst, they’ll pull me out, but there’s no hope.’
He was probably confident he’d make it out alive. But they fell into an ambush set by no fewer than two enemy sabotage groups. Who messed up here, to put it bluntly? The reconnaissance unit that went ahead in the APC, and they weren’t told there was an ambush after all.
The first hit was on the APC (they call it the ‘box’ in the APC). My son relayed this to the right people: ‘So-and-so, there was a hit.’ But they were told to carry on; they grouped them together and made it clear that the way ahead was clear. And then two men came out of the vehicle with grenade launchers. They fired two shots from these hand-held grenade launchers. There were two shots at the APC, and my son decided to engage in a firefight. He ordered everyone to retreat to the mortar position, whilst he was to provide cover. And when my son gave such orders, they weren’t discussed – they were simply carried out."
Ihor Shymanskyi held off the Russian attack for about 40 minutes, allowing his group to retreat to safe positions. To this day, Ihor is officially listed as missing in action – initially because it was impossible to recover his body, and now due to official procedures.
"They couldn’t retrieve him. He was lying 340 metres from the position, and they didn’t retrieve him. They crawled over to collect the radio, and that was it," says Natalia. "It’s understandable that they rescue the 300th first, and only then do they deal with the 200th. But I’m not sure he died immediately. They said the bullet wound was fatal. When I started piecing everything together bit by bit, I realised that my son had been fighting alone for 40 minutes and helped his mates retreat to the mortar position unharmed. And he himself was killed..."
I asked the battalion commander: "So, Vitalii Leonidovych, please tell me, what did you write in the report?" He said that, as far as the brigade was concerned, he was dead and they would be retrieving his body. I replied that until I saw where my son was, I would pass the request on. He launched a drone and sent a video showing where Ihor was lying. It really was my son; I could see that clearly.
But how could he be retrieved from there? He was lying in the grey zone, where drones were swarming out like bees from a hive. It seemed impossible to get in there, but I checked through my own channels and found out it could be done. Yet they had left him there for so long that he was lying under the scorching sun and in the rain.
I pressed them: "Soon the white flies will be swarming, and you still can’t get him out. Take those remains away." I insisted on this. Finally, on 9 January, they sent me a video of them putting him in a bag.
We now have another problem. As our son had been laying there for a very long time, we now need to establish the fact of his death through the courts... There are witnesses, and more than one. The command confirms his death, as the battalion commander’s report states the truth. But for now, the unit’s lawyer is busy with other matters. The case involving our son has caused difficulties for the entire brigade, battalion, and military unit 3018…
We have decided to wait for the official confirmation of Ihor’s death, as no one will transport the remains without the relevant documents. Only then will they hand him over to us for burial. We are waiting for him."
Olha Skorokhod, Censor.NET
