"Ukrainian Soldier Survives Five Drone Strikes, Mortar Attacks, and Gangrene in 12 Days of Hell"

Table of Contents

1. Survival Story of Ukraine’s Luckiest Soldier
2. Wounds and Escape
3. Frontline Conditions
4. Reunion with Family
5. Recovery Journey
6. Future Goals

UKRAINE’S “luckiest soldier” survived five drone strikes and a mortar barrage during a harrowing 12-day escape from the frontline, which left him with gangrene, frostbite, and severe shrapnel wounds.

Heroic Private Oleh, 38, was presumed dead, and his wife and daughter were informed that he was missing after he was separated from his comrades TWICE during a significant winter offensive.

Private Oleh, 38, a married father-of-one, recovering from shrapnel wounds, lung damage, gangrene, and frostbiteCredit: Ian Whittaker Oleh in uniform during his serviceCredit: Supplied

Oleh disclosed that he was wounded THREE times but refused to surrender, even while injured and isolated for days as temperatures plummeted to minus 14 degrees Celsius.

He stated: “It was a miracle that I got out.”

When the former sports center administrator was finally reunited with his wife and 14-year-old daughter in Kyiv, both his legs had been amputated, along with the fingertips on his right hand.

Speaking from his wheelchair, he recounted to The Sun: “They cried so much they ran out of tears.”

“They didn’t know for a week that I was alive.”

He shared his experience to highlight the dire frontline conditions that hinder wounded soldiers from receiving medical assistance.

It took 12 days from Oleh’s first injury to reach the relative safety of a hospital for professional medical care.

At one point, he was kept alive by medications delivered by Ukrainian drones—because it was too perilous for troops to reach him.

In the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, British forces aimed to get injured comrades to hospitals within a “golden hour” to increase their chances of survival.

However, due to the threat of drones on Ukraine’s frontline and the risks to helicopters, medics revealed that soldiers are fortunate if they receive a “golden day.”

Oleh, from Kyiv, was serving with Ukraine’s 95th Air Assault Brigade and manning the frontline in occupied Russian Kursk—a territory captured by Ukraine but subsequently reclaimed by Russia.

Shortly after sunset on February 19, his eight-man team was ordered to change positions in the bomb-ravaged village of Pogrebki, located around 10 miles inside Russian territory.

Oleh recounted that they were caught in the open by “bomber” drones.

He stated: “They spotted us and ambushed us, dropping multiple explosives.”

Shrapnel struck his left thigh. His comrades dragged him to the nearest building and applied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.

Oleh explained: “When the bleeding stopped, I could move again. We waited until it was quiet. We thought the drones had left.”

“But as soon as we moved, they attacked us again, dropping bombs.”

This time, shrapnel hit Oleh’s left shin.

Oleh was serving in Ukraine’s 95th Air Assault BrigadeCredit: Supplied The brave soldier was caught in the open by ‘bomber’ dronesCredit: Supplied

He said: “My comrades scattered because there were so many drones, and I applied the tourniquet to my shin myself.”

Half-running, half-hobbling, he limped through the frigid darkness to an evacuation point.

Comrades assessed his injuries and loaded him into a Stryker, a Canadian armored vehicle, for the journey back to Ukrainian territory.

Oleh recounted: “We got into the armored vehicle and drove across the field.”

“Maybe ten minutes passed when an FPV drone flew in and struck the vehicle.”

Russian troops shared videos online showing the initial strike on the moving vehicle and subsequent strikes when it was stationary.

Oleh recalled: “The vehicle commander said the vehicle wouldn’t move, so we scattered.”