Soldier Viktor, call sign VIRASTIUK

My journey as a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine began in 2014, when I was mobilised to the 2nd Battalion of the "Horyn'" territorial defence Brigade as an RPG-7V grenade launcher.

Near Ambrosiyivka, Donetsk region, I received a concussion and a light shrapnel wound to my right forearm. In 2015, I was demobilised from the Svitlodarsk bulge. After demobilisation, I immediately voluntarily joined the army in the 6th wave of mobilisation. I was sent to the Rivne training ground and was retained as a person with combat experience. From mid-summer 2015 to early spring 2016, I served as an instructor.

In the spring of 2016, I was transferred to the 10th separate mountain assault brigade, namely the 8th separate mountain assault battalion, as a grenade launcher. From June to October 2016, I was in the Anti-Terrorist Operation zone, Krasnohorivka, Donetsk region, where I received a shrapnel wound to my left shin.

I was demobilised in 2016, got married in the same year and had a daughter.

From 2016 to 2022, I was busy with civilian life.

I am a builder by profession. I witnessed the full-scale invasion by russia on 24.02.2022 while staying abroad in Poland. On the 25th of February, I went to the regional military enlistment office in Rivne, where I was refused. Their argument was as follows: "You have experience, so wait until we call you”.

And after the Ukrainian Armed Forces liberated Kyiv region, the formation of the battalion began, to which I was invited by my comrades.

In 2023, our unit performed a combat mission in the Kherson region. During a mortar attack, while rotating from the site of the fire, I sustained a spinal injury. 

The disease has progressed, and now I am unable to perform combat missions nor to live a full life. The only solution is surgery. The surgery itself is free, but I need to buy a CIF 3D cage for osteosynthesis of the cervical region of the spine. 

I want to get better and be back with my brothers-in-arms. We have to bring this war to victory so that our descendants will not know what war is.

I dream of returning to my hobby in peaceful times. Searches with a metal detector is my relaxation. 
I want to travel and finally visit Georgia.
 

During the operation, there were difficulties with the installation of one of the two cages. Therefore, the surgeons decided to install another cage instead of one, which was available at the hospital.

The amount spent on the operation was halved and amounted to UAH 48,750.00. The saved funds were redirected to the treatment of soldier Serhiy, call sign BORODA, who also needs a spinal implant.
 

COLLECTED AND TRANSFERRED: UAH 48,750