Soldier Petro Slobodian, call sign FORSAZH Copied!

On April 12, 2022, I was mobilized into the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. I served in the 108th Kodatska Brigade.

I went to defend my family and my country. Because when war comes to your country, it ceases to be something distant. Behind your back remain the most precious people — your family and loved ones. And you understand who you are standing for.

On December 27, 2025, returning from a combat mission, we came under a strike from an enemy "Lancet." There were three of us in the vehicle: the driver, myself, and one more serviceman. Our driver was killed. I survived.

The fellow soldiers who were moving behind us saw what had happened. Nearby was a tank on it they were able to evacuate us, the wounded, and deliver us to a place where emergency assistance could be received. I was unconscious. As a result of the strike I sustained a severe traumatic brain injury with significant hemorrhage into the brain and numerous shrapnel wounds to the body.

I was urgently delivered to a hospital in Zaporizhzhia. There a craniotomy was performed, the consequences of the hemorrhage were fought, and vital bodily functions were supported. I was placed in a medically induced coma. When the condition was stabilized, I was transferred to Kyiv, still in a coma. Lengthy treatment lay ahead. A plate was subsequently installed.

The prognoses were very severe. The doctors said that achieving significant recovery would be extraordinarily difficult, and that returning to the condition I was in before the wound would no longer be possible. But I survived. And now my fight continues — only it is a different one.

Today I have to fight anew for things that a healthy person almost never thinks about. My leg responds to me very poorly, there are problems with arm coordination. The consequences of the severe injury affected my emotional state and the functioning of my body, including the gastrointestinal tract. There was severe pain in the shoulder, thigh, and leg.

I am not asking for my life to be returned to what it was before the wound. I want to do everything possible to regain as much independence as possible. And most importantly — to once again have the opportunity to make plans for the future.

Right now for this I need specialized rehabilitation at the "Western Rehabilitation and Sports Center" of the NCSPI. After such a severe wound, time and quality rehabilitation are of enormous importance. I have already traveled a very difficult path. And there are changes. Slowly, step by step, thank God, my condition is improving. What may seem like a small result to some is today a great victory for me and my family.

But this path is not yet complete.

And I also want to ask something important. Do not get accustomed to this war. It is not somewhere far away. While someone returns home to their family in the evening, Ukrainian defenders return from combat missions. And not all of them return. And those who survive after severe wounds often begin yet another long fight — this time for their own body, movement, independence, and future.

Thank you to everyone who is by my side!

 

COLLECTING: UAH 90,000