Soldier Alim Abduramanov, call sign TATARIN

I am Alim Islamovich Abduramanov, call sign TATARIN, born on 25th August 1994.
I come from Kherson region, namely from the village of Novotroitske.

On 24.02.22 we were occupied around midday. At the moment when the occupiers were arriving on their vehicles, I was horrified by the way people greeted them: with smiles on their faces and waving their hands. Many did not understand what they were dealing with. I knew very well and understood what would happen next, because I had experience, because I served and took part in the ATO in 2015 in the Donetsk region.

Back then, on 24.02.22, when they were just arriving, I knew perfectly well that I had to get out of there immediately on my own, because our "valiant" military enlistment office simply abandoned us (the ATO soldiers) and went to Zaporizhzhia without telling anyone. I'm sure they had some preliminary information about the full-scale offensive, because two days before the full-scale invasion, a fellow soldier called me and asked: "Well, bro, have you received a call-up yet?" I was surprised then...

I spent a little over a month under the military occupation. During this time, I saved up money, found a carrier to Zaporizhzhia (at that time it cost UAH 5,000) and decided to get out.

To be honest, it was a bit scary to leave, because at that time the locals were already turning in all the former ATO fighters. They were pointing fingers at who lived where. And in addition to this, they said that the checkpoints had a database with all the information about who had fought since 2014. But I had no other options but to take the risk.

First of all, I contacted an acquaintance who served in Zaporizhzhia. I took photos of all the pages of my military ID and sent them via Signal.

We left at 5 am. As we approached the first checkpoint, looking at those vile faces, I wanted to snatch away their assault rifle and shoot them all.

The driver told me in advance that we could not say at the checkpoints that we were going straight to Zaporizhzhia. They wouldn't have let us through! So we kept saying Melitopol, Tokmak and so on in succession. When they asked me: "Where are you going?" - I answered that I wanted to take my family and come back. When they heard that I was coming back, they let me go... 

There were more than 40 checkpoints. At each checkpoint, I had to strip down to my underwear, explain the reason for the trip...

After 13-14 hours, we finally arrived at the first Ukrainian checkpoint. I remember those emotions! I had goosebumps! So happy I was!

I spent the night there. In the morning, my friend arrived, to whom I sent a photo of my military ID card. At the nearest military registration and enlistment office, they restored my military ID card (they gave me a temporary one with all my records).

I wanted to stay in Zaporizhzhia and serve in the 128th Brigade, but their staff was packed, and only one position was available - a sapper. I was not satisfied with this, because I wanted to serve in the area where I had experience and would be useful (in 2015, I served in the 57th Brigade in a reconnaissance company).

So I bought a ticket to Kyiv. There I went to the first military enlistment office I came across, handed over my military ID, and they looked at it and were satisfied with everything. They offered me to join the 95th Air Assault Brigade. Without hesitation, I agreed.

 

On the same day, we were sent to Zhytomyr for training, where we spent two weeks and then went to Donetsk region, then to Kharkiv region, near Izium in the village of Dovhenke. There I worked with man-portable air defence systems (Igla, Igla-1, Stinger). To be honest, it wasn't at all satisfying, because I wanted to go into reconnaissance. But at that time, there was no opportunity and no time to "pick and choose", so I did what I was assigned to do! I always tried to be useful in everything, took on any job to contribute to our victory!

I got my first shell-shock in Dovhenke, I was taken from our position to Sloviansk to hospital, then to Dnipro, and from there to Vinnytsia. I was treated for 10 days and then - back in service.

When I returned, I got into Aerial Reconnaissance. It was something completely new for me. At first, I was a little upset, thinking that I would be flying the drones far from the frontline, sitting in the rear area in some basement. But I was very much mistaken! 

They gave me a remote control and explained everything very clearly how things work. I loved it.
I passed the "Application of Technology in Warfare" online tests admitting me to work  with an A grade.

I came to study in Zhytomyr with some experience, because I had mastered all the basics of working with a drone in combat conditions prior to that. So it was easier for me to learn, and I was also good at navigating the terrain, as I worked very well with maps.

After 10 days of training, I started performing combat missions as a certified specialist.
 

On 07th November 2022, while performing a combat mission near Ploshchanka settlement, Luhansk region, I received an order to fly to a certain quadrant where there were about 5 enemy tanks. I found three of them and brought the drone back to change the battery and enter the coordinates in the tablet for further processing. I was the head of the group, I was given three guys to train, all without experience, none of them had been shelled before. As soon as I landed the drone, our positions in the greenery were mowed down by these very tanks that I had recently spotted. Everything happened very quickly, and before I could even transmit the coordinates, the shells from the tank severed our Starlink cable. We were left without any communication whatsoever.

The explosions were heard close to our dugout. But it was difficult to call it a dugout because we occupied an enemy dugout, its depth was about 5-6 bayonet blades. At that time, we had neither the opportunity nor the time to deepen or reinforce it in any way. So we made do with what we had. 

After the cable was broken, I heard shells from a tank landing very, very close by. At some point, there was complete silence... followed by a sudden explosion next to our dugout! Everything went grey around us. Dust. Noise in my ears. I was sitting with my tablet right next to the entrance, and my three guys were in the corner to my left.

After the explosion, I felt my left foot burning terribly. I looked, and my foot was already broken and turned to the other side.

I didn't panic, I was as composed as possible. I calmly asked the guys to apply the tourniquet without any fuss. Unfortunately, they were in a stupor and couldn't help me. I had tourniquets on my plate carrier, so I used 2 of them on my leg. Then I realised that we were without communication and no one could evacuate me. But I didn't want to bleed out either, so I gritted my teeth, stepped on my right leg, which turned out to be wounded too, and leaning on my assault rifle I managed to get out of the dugout.

I knew that the 66th Brigade was behind us in the green area. I often wonder where I got my strength from. Probably, my children, two beautiful daughters and an unborn son, motivated me the most. In the end, I managed to crawl to the guys from the 66th Brigade. They noticed me, four soldiers ran up, and thank God they didn't shoot me. They immediately picked me up and threw me into an M113 and took me to Lyman, then Kramatorsk, Dnipro and Lviv!

Then in my certificate they wrote: partial traumatic amputation of the left foot, gunshot shrapnel blind wound of the right shin.

Now I walk on a prosthesis. I never asked anyone for help, I tried to solve everything myself. But now I have to ask people who care to support me in raising money for a sports prosthesis. I want to return to the army, I just need it to perform combat missions effectively.

I will be very grateful to everyone who can help me with a hryvnia. Together we will reach a common goal! And we will definitely win! Glory to Ukraine!