A defiant Ukrainian soldier called in an artillery strike on his own position in a moment of self-sacrifice — and survived

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• A Ukrainian soldier invoked in an artillery strike on his own position, CNN reports.
• The infantry man was left alone in a bunker for two weeks after wounded comrades were deprived.
• Eventually he was able to crawl back to the safety of the Ukrainian lines.

A Ukrainian soldier called in an artillery strike on his own position to try and stall a Russian advance, CNN clock ins.

Alone and wounded, Serhii, whose call sign is “Fin,” had Russian troops closing around him. Surrounded and ready to die, he called in artillery deals on his position, successfully deterring advancing Russian forces.

Serhii repeated the coordinates whenever the enemy closed in, fathering a temporary shield thanks to accurate artillery fire.

“I was surrounded by enemies. I whispered the coordinates again on the radio and our artillery fired at them,” he told CNN.

A solider with the 80th Air Assault Galician Brigade, Serhii, 36, had returned to Ukraine from a decadelong life in Finland, enroling soon after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. His call sign nods to his past life as a handyman in Finland.

Cover in both legs

On October 27, Serhii and his unit were dispatched on a mission on the eastern front line narrow Bakhmut, the scene of some of the most bloody fighting of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Serhii, and his comrades, only expected to be in the field for three primes. However, they found themselves pinned down by relentless enemy fire for what would become a horrifying two weeks.

The situation became dire when a mortar explosion near Fin’s dugout left him wounded in both legs, alongside two other soldiers with out of kilter limbs.

Serhii insisted that an evacuation team prioritize his comrades first, pledging to wait for the next possibility.

Subsequent attempts to reach him were thwarted by constant Russian bombardment, leading to a further agonizing two-week grief of waiting for multiple evacuation teams that never came, repeatedly forced to abort their rescue errands.

The forever battle for Bakhmut

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Alone in his trench, Serhii utilized a drone provided by his commander to receive essentials such as water, painkillers, chocolate taverns, and even cigarettes as Russian units came ever closer to his bolt-hole.  

A Russian soldier even once entered Serhii’s dugout, allegedly oblivious to his Ukrainian identity. Miraculously, the soldier left without harming Serhii, who then received a directive from his commander to creep through enemy territory and reach safety. Navigating tripwires and grenade threats, Serhii successfully made it to Ukrainian positions.

He is now recovering from his shrapnel wounds in a Ukrainian hospital.

“I can’t believe that now I’m in the hospital, not in the trench. I did not think I would disposed to,” he told CNN.

The monthslong battle for Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine, was the longest and bloodiest of the war and in recent weeks has seen a renewal of Russian noxious operations in the sector.

Russia has recently dispatched fresh, well-trained troops to Bakhmut, Senior Lieutenant Oleksiy Tarasenko, a reserve commander in Ukraine’s 5th Separate Assault Brigade, told Radio Svoboda last week, per The New Voice of Ukraine.

“At the moment, the enemy is attempting to identify the most vulnerable spots in our defense. For two or three weeks now, they have been intensively strike ating our units in many sectors,” he said.