Soldier Ihor Dibrov, call sign KAPER (meaning “Capper”)

I am Ihor Dibrov. Because of my great love for football, I got a call sign KAPER (meaning “Capper”). I conscripted voluntarily and began to serve in the summer of 2022.

I studied in the UK, where I was promoted to the squad leader for my excellence. Then I was professionally trained as an artilleryman, namely as a spotter. After graduation, I joined the Ukrainian Marines, who got deployed to the east of Ukraine, namely to the Donetsk region, where I continued my service.

In January 2023, we were sent to reinforce our positions in the direction of the village of Vodiane, near Avdiivka.

For several days, there was massive shelling of our positions, during which I was injured in the thigh. It was then that a shrapnel affected my hip joint. The impact was so strong that I was thrown several meters away, and my helmet even flew off. 

My eyes went dark for a few seconds, then I started to come to senses, but because of the extreme noise and whistling in my ears, I did not immediately realise what had happened.

After a while, I felt a sharp and very strong pain in the left side of my pelvis, due to the fact that I fell from the impact and my leg got bent in the knee after the shell exploded, I thought that my leg had been torn off because I could not feel it with my hands at first. At that moment, I had absolutely no desire to call for help. Only a minute later I ensured that my limbs were in place... and started shouting and calling for help from my comrades.

My brothers-in-arms ran out of the dugout, grabbed me by my hands and dragged me into the dugout. We started to communicate with the senior officer on the radio, demanding help of a doctor and evacuation of the wounded. We received a reply that the evacuation would take place no earlier than at 6-8pm, whereas it was only one o'clock in the afternoon.

I was very lucky to have three young 20-22 years old guys from another brigade in our dugout in the morning (they had finished their work and were waiting in our dugout for the shelling to end).

The guys did not waste a second. Their coordinated actions were impressive: they immediately started undressing me, checking for possible injuries and immediately administered medical aid. They were constantly talking to me, distracting me, and at the same time trying to stop the massive bleeding.

And it was them who called for the evacuation of their unit, which arrived in 20 minutes. Thanks to them, I survived. 

I still remember the moment when one of the guys contacted his superiors to request evacuation and was asked a question: "Did anyone from our brigade get injured?", to which he replied: "What does it matter! We have a wounded man, you have to be here in a second!". And every minute he got in touch with them on the radio, asking: "When will you be here? When will you be here?", and urged them as much as he could.

Then came the evacuation. Hospitals. Surgeries. 

Now, in order to return to an active full life, I need to have my hip joint replaced, which was damaged by that unfortunate shrapnel. Therefore, I appeal to all those who are concerned, for help.
 

COLLECTED AND TRANSFERRED: UAH 171,650