Thread by @ukraine_world

The story of Ukrainian soldier Serhii Yanchenko. #UkraineWorldTestimony

The day before the full-scale 🇷🇺 invasion, Serhii came to the Sumy territorial defense and left his information so that in the event of war, he could be quickly found and called to defend the city. 1/13

On February 24, the full-scale war began, which was not a surprise to Serhii. He was ready to protect the city and fight the Russian invaders. He received a weapon, and so a new stage in his life began - being a soldier. 2/13

Now Serhii is fighting in eastern Ukraine and occasionally publishes stories about his military experience on his Instagram -instagram.com/serhii_yanchen…

We are publishing one of Serhii Yanchenko's texts in his voice. 3/13

June 16, 5:30 am. I have my b-day today, but there will be no HB wishes. 1st, not everyone in the platoon knows about it, and 2nd, we have been right on the frontline for more than a week. There has been no📱connection. It has been jammed by 🇷🇺 electronic warfare measures. 4/13

I know that many people want to call and wish me a happy birthday today, but they will hear the phrase “that the subscriber is now out of reach.” The hardest thing is now for my parents. They, more than anyone, want to talk to me. 5/13

🎁 I thought: well, what kind of gift can I make for myself? The answer was obvious. I turned on my phone, took my headphones, and turned on my musical playlist. What could be better than just listening to your favorite songs at five in the morning? 6/13

In the afternoon, the commander came to us. We warmed up the last drinking💧 reserves, brewing coffee and tea. There was very little water. One☕ for 2 or 3 soldiers. I gave a stingy toast for my comrades. For the fact that I had the honor of defending our country with them. 7/13

- We have a gift for you, Siryi - said Kapral, - Take the drone and adjust the artillery fire on the enemy’s positions. We’ve found a house where they often go.

I like gifts like that. 8/13

In the evening, we received the order to depart. Finally. We were tired, both physically and morally. We had lost guys here. They died right before our eyes. Some were seriously injured and have already been evacuated. 9/13

But despite all this, we obeyed the order. We did not give up positions. But it was still necessary to go. And it won't be a stroll. At night, we got on a bus, crossed it with all the prayers that we knew, and left. 10/13

- Siryi, your things have burned, I forgot to tell you.
- What? What does it mean - burned?
- Well, your guy's backpacks were loaded into Kamaz. There was still a place, and ammunition was put in the car too. I think grenade launchers were also there. 11/13

There was shelling at the power station. The shell hit Kamaz as well, the ammunition was detonated and the car was completely burned.
- Damn! - That's all I could say.

All the things I went to war with were burned. 3 backpacks of all the essential stuff turned into ashes. 12/13

Read the end of the story on our website ➡️ ukraineworld.org/articles/stori… 13/13