Yuriy shares the harrowing and inspiring story of his friend who lost his leg to a Russian mine but remains determined to fight for his country's liberation. Through tales of courage, resilience, and unwavering principles, Yuriy highlights the stark contrast between those who resist occupation and those who accept it.
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TRANSCRIPT: (Apple Podcasts & Podbean app users can enjoy accurate closed captions)
It is April Eighth.
I have a friend who lost his leg after stepping on the Russian mine. He and his unit ended up in a mine field that was not marked on any map. Several people were wounded in the explosions. He applied a tourniquet on himself to avoid bleeding to death, and then his comrades dragged him to the evacuation point. There is a special handle on the back of a body armor made exactly for this- to pull a wounded soldier, but while we were dragging him, another mine exploded under him.
By the time he reached the hospital, the first explosion had already torn off his leg. Shrapnel from the second mine pierced through his body armor, broke several ribs, punctured his lungs and injured several internal organs.
My friend survived. He walks now with a prosthetic leg. By the way, he underwent rehabilitation in the United States, and I'm incredibly grateful to the American people for helping him. You saved an amazing human being. He's still in the military. He didn't retire even before he had every right to.
And the thing is he could have just stayed and lived under Russian rule and never put his life at risk. He's from a small town near Donetsk- occupied by Russians since 2014. He used to run a construction business there. One day, he was driving out to a construction site outside the town. That morning, the Ukrainian flag was flying at the edge of his neighborhood. By the evening when he was returning. The Russian tricolor rag was already up.
And you know, it really happens just like that- that easily. The local authorities panic and submit to the enemy. Confused cops swear allegiance to the occupiers. Most of the population either becomes scared or indifferent. A few who resist, they get tortured or publicly executed. And just like that where occupation is complete- a few hours, and it's done.
And my friend who had lived all his life in the suburbs of Donetsk, who still speaks the Russian that was imposed during the Soviet era, better when Ukrainian, who just happened to be out of town when it was occupied- he saw that flag rushed home, gathered his kids who were still in school at that time told his wife to grab the documents and a few essentials, and they all fled to Kyiv.
He did not accept the occupation. He didn't want to live under the invader rule. Even for with his business skills and knowledge, he could have easily thrived under occupation, but his ideas of honor, morality, and values. Did not let him stay with the Russians, work for them and see every day war who are killing Ukrainians and trying to destroy Ukraine.
For many others though, this is not a problem. My own brother still lives somewhere in Moscow. Every day, I imagine, he, his posters glorifying murders and rapists now declared heroes by the Russian regime. He crosses paths with, these killers in stores, on commuter trains, in schools where he drops off his kids. Those kids, by the way, are being taught to hate Ukraine in school, to see the murder of Ukrainians as a purpose in life.
And he's okay with all of it. He feels safe and comfortable there- among looters and war criminals. So comfortable that he never even tried to escape. Never dared to even plan a way out.
Meanwhile, my friend from Donetsk is now planning an eye surgery. Without a leg and with broken bones, he can no longer serve in the special operations unit of the Ukrainian Marines where he was before his injury. But he can still become a sniper if he improves his vision, and that's what he's working on now.
So that he can return to his hometown, liberated from occupation, drive the Russians out or die trying. But not betray himself, not betray the values, and principles that mean more than comfortable life.
