A Ukrainian soldier whose battle-weary image was flashed across the world after he returned from 130 days at the front has given a graphic account of being buried alive in a Russian attack.
Dmytro and a comrade came under heavy bombardment after repelling Vladimir Putin’s ground forces while they were defending embattled Kostyantynivka in the eastern Donetsk region.
They killed seven enemy as they helped hold the line on the outskirts of the industrial city, which has been under heavy attack.
But Dmytro, 30, told how the house they had taken position in was then demolished under fire from drones and mortars.
The soldier, callsign ‘K2’, and comrade Denis, callsign ‘Bars’, serve with the 93rd ‘Kholodnyi Yar’ Separate Mechanized Brigade, which has run a dogged defence of the city from the grinding attacks by Putin’s forces.
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‘On the front, we had several fire contacts with the enemy,’ Dmytro said.
‘We killed seven enemy. The most terrible thing was when our house was “dismantled.” When the enemies came, we eliminated them, but the enemy drone saw it, and the next day they started demolishing our house.
‘This was 26 days before our rotation out. They were pounding us with FPV [first-person view] drones and mortars.’
The pair used separate shelters at exit points but a blast destroyed Dmytro’s position, leaving him unconscious and trapped under the rubble.
‘I thought I would stay there forever underground,’ he said.
‘I managed to brace myself and lie on my side, pulling in my knees and elbows. There was a small space left under my body.
‘I started digging myself out with a knife and my hands.
Grim scene in aftermath
‘Little by little, over several hours, I dug myself out enough to be able to move. Then I started to notice a very strong stench.
‘It turned out that an enemy corpse was hanging above me — the first enemy who had come into our house. It was being held up by tree roots.
‘He had no face, and it was dripping onto me.
‘The explosion had thrown his body up there.
‘A very unpleasant image stayed in my mind.
'Cyborgs' and robots: Ukraine's 93rd Brigade
The 93rd Brigade has a distinguished history of fighting Russia in some of the fiercest and most critical battles of the four-year war.
On its website, the brigade says it has ’25 years of combat experience’, ranging from peacekeeping missions to war with Russia, starting from the outset of Putin’s military aggression against Ukraine in 2014.
The 93rd’s soldiers were among the first defenders to fight on Ukraine’s borders at the outset of the full-blown invasion on February 24, 2022.
The brigade was also involved in the defence of Donetsk airport in September 2014, taking part in fierce battles as they fought among the ‘cyborgs’ who defended the facility for 244 days.
In August, the 93rd was said to have retaken the villages of Hruzke and Vesele near the city of Dobropillia, also in Donetsk, when Russian forces attempted to break through. Robots equipped with machine guns opened fire on ‘concentrations’ of Russian troops after driving up to the enemy at almost point-blank range, according to the brigade.
In contrast to the callous disregard for life shown by the Russian military, the brigade’s commander Shamil Krutkov has said: ‘For us, the life of every individual is of the utmost value.’
Even after narrowly surviving the attack, the pair remained on the front in the face of an assault that has inflicted devastation on the city.
‘Then we changed position,’ Dmytro said.
‘After that I didn’t go outside at all. Bars ran out to collect supplies, while I stayed in my dugout. There you could either lie down or sit.
‘And over 26 days my legs atrophied.
‘Then I had to cover a 10-kilometre route during the withdrawal from the position. By then I could barely drag my legs.’
Return from 130 days of war
The comrades’ haunting stares were flashed around the world last week after they were photographed returning from the front.
They have chosen to only be identified by their first names and callsigns.
Reflecting on his burst of fame after the arresting images were taken by the 93rd’s photographer, Iryna Rybakova, Dmytro said: ‘I’m proud of myself, to be honest. I’m pleased that people like it, it’s cool.
‘Friends write, “Wow, you are a warrior, we are proud of you.”’
The soldier, originally from the city of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine, is going on leave with his family and plans to return to the fray.
He admits that he was enlisted after going to a shop in the morning and finding himself surrounded by territorial recruitment centre soldiers.
The new recruit was sent to a training centre and wanted to serve in the K2 Battalion — which gave rise to his nickname — but was instead selected for the 93rd by recruiters. He nevertheless says ‘I like fighting’ and ‘doesn’t regret for a single day that I ended up exactly here.’
His only health appointment while on leave is a visit to the dentist.
‘My family motivates me,’ Dmytro said. ‘My younger brother Maksym, who is 14 years old, he is a future actor, he goes to acting courses.
‘In the summer he went to Greece to perform, and he won some kind of international award. I also have a sister, mother and father.
‘My family motivates me so that everything is fine at home.
‘So that they can live and not see this horror.’
Manpower challenges and the incredible danger of movement on the front mean Kyiv’s forces spend long periods in their positions.
The 93rd has described how Russia has destroyed ‘entire microdistricts’, with ‘kamikaze drones’ hunting for targets.
Fresh graves lie between houses where locals have buried neighbours in a hurry under the constant threat of enemy attack, the brigade said.
But according to reports on Ukrainian media platforms, the 93rd has managed to hold the line around the city of 4,300 residents.
‘If everyone says they don’t want to or that they’re tired, we’ll lose very quickly,’ Dmytro said of military service.
‘If this is the fate we’ve been given, then we have to do it.’
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