Kyiv: In a gripping story of resilience and survival, a Ukrainian soldier wounded in eastern Donetsk endured five days of crawling through enemy-monitored territory before finally reaching safety. His ordeal highlights both the human spirit’s determination and the grim realities of a battlefield dominated by drones.
The 40-year-old soldier, identified only by his call sign “Surovyi” meaning “strict” was injured when a Russian drone strike hit his leg. Stranded in open terrain and unable to count on rescue vehicles due to constant aerial surveillance, he faced the chilling choice of moving slowly on his own or being discovered and killed. Recalling the moment to Reuters, he said: “My leg went numb… I said to my comrade: let’s get out of here or we will get killed.”
Over the next five days, he crawled through scrubland and hid in ditches, camouflaging himself with soil and pine needles to avoid detection. The territory he crossed, now referred to by both sides as a “kill zone,” stretches more than 10 kilometers and is under relentless drone control. For soldiers in this zone, even medical evacuation is nearly impossible.
At one point, he narrowly escaped death when another enemy FPV drone targeted him and his fellow soldier but missed its strike. Despite exhaustion and searing pain, he pushed forward, inch by inch, toward safety. His persistence ultimately paid off when he reached his brigade and was transported to a field hospital for treatment.
The moment of survival carried deep personal meaning. Surovyi’s escape coincided with his son’s birthday a date he described as a “little gift” amid the suffering of war. His story stands as both a personal triumph and a symbol of the countless sacrifices made by Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines.
Beyond the heroism, the incident underscores the shifting nature of modern warfare. In earlier stages of the conflict, medics could drive to injured soldiers. Today, drones have turned frontline rescue into an almost impossible operation. The sky is as dangerous as the ground, forcing troops to adapt with new forms of survival and movement.
Surovyi’s survival is more than an isolated act of endurance; it is a stark reminder of how technology has redefined the risks of war, demanding extraordinary courage from those who fight and survive under its shadow.