"I had five wounds, a fracture and severe trauma". Ukrainian National Guard soldier, 19, on fighting in Ukraine's East
The soldier who goes by the alias Boiok (Firing Pin, a part of a gun's construction – ed.) is one of those who saw the full-scale invasion as a conscript. He is 19.
Boiok is a rifleman with a patrol battalion of the 5th Slobozhansk Brigade. He has a visible scar on his forehead left from the hostilities.
The National Guard of Ukraine (NGU) told UP the story of his struggle.
The young man was enlisted in the autumn of 2021 and was due to be discharged in the spring of 2022. The full-scale war began when he was 18. He can still remember the events well.
"On 23 February [the day before the Russian invasion – ed.], I was on duty and had just gone to bed, but they immediately raised combat alert. We were handed weapons and ammunition. We were initially at the headquarters, but our unit was sent beyond [the village of] Cherkaska Lozova [in Kharkiv Oblast bordering Russia] in early March. We had just started entrenching ourselves when Vasilek [automatic 82 mm gun-mortar] targeted us. We were told that the occupiers were 1.5 kilometres away. We dug out the sconces, secured positions, and set up patrols," says Boiok.
Boiko’s unit was first stationed in the village of Piatykhatky and then in the settlement of Ruska Lozova, both in Kharkiv Oblast. He participated in the liberation of several villages in the Derhachi district, Kharkiv Oblast, in May 2022. Along with the Kraken special forces unit, they stormed the village of Pytomnyk and then liberated the village of Prokhody.
"Unfortunately, there were heavy losses," the NGU soldier said sadly.
Afterwards, the young man and his fellow soldiers ended up near the village of Dementiivka. Boiok says it was frightening there because of the swampy terrain and the fact that there were few forest belts. Furthermore, sabotage and reconnaissance groups were attempting to infiltrate the area.
Later, the Russian soldiers stormed the positions. Boiok recalls holding his position with two riflemen while the Russian infantry had been approaching them. He says he fired the entire payload of his grenade launcher on the Russians and started shooting with his assault rifle.
"I emptied one mag and was changing to another when a mortar bomb hit the breastwork of the sconce right in front of me. The last thing I saw was the sky, which went dark and suddenly turned white," Boiok says.
He stresses that although he had ringing in his ears, was concussed and his mouth was bleeding, he had no fear. When he checked himself, he found several wounds.
"The helmet saved me, but the shrapnel pierced the kevlar and hit my forehead. I tried to pull it out, but it didn't work. I was evacuated, I had five wounds, a fractured jaw and a severe post-concussion syndrome," the fighter recalls.
Afterwards, he was treated in a hospital, and the military medical board found him partially fit for military service. Despite his service in a patrol battalion, he is willing to carry out combat orders.
The young man plans to become a biology teacher after the war is over.
Earlier, we reported on another National Guard 19-year-old who destroyed two tanks and saved his brother-in-arms.
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