Soldier Mykhailo Myna, call sign ELEKTRYK

I am a father of three children. In 2022 I tried twice to volunteer for the front. I was refused because I had three minor children. But I could not stand aside while war was going on in my country. I understood: if we do not go, then who will protect our children, our homes, our future.

On February 16, 2023, I voluntarily signed the documents and joined the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. I was assigned to the engineering and sapper company of the 33rd Separate Mechanized Brigade and became a senior sapper. I fought in the Zaporizhzhia direction — Mala Tokmachka, Robotyne. I participated in the counteroffensive.

On October 17, 2023, during an assault I sustained my first severe wound. A 120-millimeter mortar shell exploded next to me. The explosion tore off part of my buttock. On my own, without outside assistance, I covered approximately four kilometers to the evacuation point. Then came the stabilization point, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Khmelnytskyi, the Military Medical Commission. And almost without rest back to the front line again.

At the beginning of February 2024, our brigade was redeployed to Donetsk Oblast, near Kurakhove. On February 8 we entered the settlement of Pobeda. For three days we were continuously attacked by drones, aerial bombs, and artillery. We held the defense.

On February 14 we took shelter in a small basement. There were thirteen of us. At that moment a tank shell struck the building. The concrete ceiling collapsed. At that very second I had risen slightly, and this saved my life. I heard my spine break.

A fellow soldier next to me was killed instantly. Another sustained severe leg injuries. The others remained unharmed.

My fellow soldier and I, both wounded, were dragged to different corners of the basement. I ended up on the stairs. Without water, without the ability to move, we spent three and a half days there. I lost consciousness. We firmly decided that we would not surrender alive. Next to me lay a grenade, which I kept at the ready.

The evacuation group found us only on the second attempt.

In the night of February 18 we were pulled out from under the rubble. Two hours later Russian troops entered the village. Along the way the evacuation vehicle broke down, and we were left in a field to wait for another transport. At that point I thought of only one thing: at least let my body be returned home.

But I was lucky.

Kurakhove, the stabilization point, Dnipro, intensive care. On February 19, due to severe frostbite, doctors were forced to amputate both of my lower limbs. Then came Kyiv, Lviv, intensive care, vascular surgery.

More than 30 surgeries.

I spent six months in a lying position. A month and a half of rehabilitation in the hospital and I learned again to move independently in a wheelchair. Then came the Rivne Veterans Hospital, discharge from service, and a Group I-A disability, established for life.

A year and a half ago I could not feel my own body from my chest down to my toes. Today I can already feel cold and warmth down to my waist. Sensitivity is gradually returning.

I am alive.

I have a family. I have three children. I have fellow soldiers whom I lost and whom I remember every day. I have a country for which I fought.

The war is nearby. It comes into our homes, takes away health, changes lives forever. While someone wakes up to an alarm clock, others wake up from pain, phantom sensations, and memories of those three and a half days under the rubble.

Today my fight continues.

For further recovery I need specialized rehabilitation at the “AGAPE” center. It is there that I have a chance to continue my recovery, strengthen my body, improve motor functions, and take one more step toward a full life alongside my family.

And here I cannot manage on my own, so I am compelled to ask for help.

Thank you to everyone who is by my side.

 

COLLECTING: UAH 73,500