If someone thinks that those who have not been on the front line serve in the TCC, you should just ask about their stories.
Today we will tell you about Serhiy with the call sign "Goga" .
"We had a lot of Zeus and Scythians, and I'm the only one like that – Goga," the warrior jokes.
Why Goga? I used to love the film "Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears"...
In civilian life, he was a railway worker. But the big war came.
"My sister lived in the Kyiv region, and when I saw what they did... I'm sorry – it's hard for me to speak. My sister and son did not have time to leave. It was very difficult for them during the occupation. I couldn't be at home, I wanted to fix it, change everything. I went to the TCC. When I was asked if I wanted to serve. I replied that I simply had no choice."
Serhiy got into the 65th Separate Mechanized Brigade. He studied to be the commander of a combat vehicle.
At first, they served near the Belarusian border. Next is the Zaporizhzhya direction near Huliaipole.
"I was struck by the destruction that this 'Russian world' brings. There were villages. where there are practically no living people left. Dead livestock, many flies, stray dogs and cats. There is a lot of destruction. Peaceful villages, people lived for themselves. And then they came..."
There, Serhiy "Goga" was wounded for the first time. "There was mortar shelling, I ran into the shelter and saw a guy lying with a wounded leg. I pulled him to the shelter. And I feel something running down my spine. The guys undressed me, and there was a shrapnel wound."
"In the summer of 2023, we moved to another direction. And then he tore the ligaments of the knee joint. I thought it was a normal sprain. I walked like this for about a month, and when I realized that something was wrong, I turned to doctors. The examination also revealed wear and tear on the knee joints. Serious wear and tear. Now I serve in the Mukachevo RTCC and SP."
"What impresses me here in my native quiet Mukachevo is the attitude of people to the military. It has somehow changed compared to what it was in 2022. For some reason, some are afraid of the military, others do not understand. Guys with many children, 58-year-olds, and those who had other legal reasons not to join the army, but they stood up for Ukraine, served with me. And here it sometimes seems that some people want to stay in their comfortable environment, as if in a shell, but they don't want to think about what is happening. And it hurts a lot. In those difficult conditions, in the swamp, under enemy fire, the guys are defending the country and us here. They need a replacement. They need to rest. And here not everyone understands it. And it amazes and hurts me."
"Everyone is scared. But you need to understand those guys who are on the front line – they are also scared, but they are fighting. And they were civilians, too."
Before moving from one position to another, he always asked the guys: "Who is with me? We will take positions together." I took with me only those who wanted to. Some left, others saw it, and the next time they also went. One day, a guy from another unit asked, in the event of an attack, where will we retreat? I answered: "We will not retreat! We are well dug in. And retreat is a guaranteed death. We will fight." He emphasized to the boys that fear must be constantly fought. And when an enemy assault group came to our position, none of us retreated. We were ready. There was trench fighting. We knocked them out. We have only one wound. And the enemy was forced to retreat. And we held our ground!"
The story was shared by the Public Relations Service of the Transcarpathian OTCC and SP