72nd SMB soldier went to war after Russian bomb killed his family in Mariupol: "My nephews were 14, 12 and 6 years old". VIDEO
Valentyn Dolhosheienko, now a serviceman of the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade (SMB) "Black Zaporizhians," was in Kyiv at the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, having come from Mariupol for work. His family — his sister and her three children — remained at home. During the siege of the city by Russian forces, they were killed in the air strike on the Drama Theater, where they had been sheltering from shelling.
Unable to find a job in Kyiv and facing hardship, Valentyn committed theft and received a prison sentence. When inmates were offered the option to sign a contract and mobilize, he joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Censor.NET reports.
In an interview on the YouTube channel Butusov Plus, the soldier explained that after completing training he was assigned to the newly formed specialized rifle company "Shkval." With that unit he carried out combat missions in one of the most intense sectors — the Vuhledar area. On their first operation the unit came under heavy fire: the armored vehicle they were riding in was hit, Valentyn was injured, and he ended up in an evacuation group.
The driver of the APC evacuating the wounded lost his eyesight during the mission but still managed to extract the troops and, under enemy fire, open the APC’s doors himself. Together with Valentyn, he trekked on foot for two days while under FPV-drone attacks. Along the way they aided other wounded soldiers, saving two severely injured comrades and bringing them to the command post.
