Stories of unbroken Ukrainian defenders

Getting to know each of them is like a small opportunity to touch the life story of our country, which is being created here and now. Their life stories, combat experience, and injuries never leave anyone from the FFU team indifferent. It is simply impossible to listen to them without holding your breath, tears, and endless thankfulness for the defense of our country. 

Today, we will introduce you to the defenders who are next to fly to Washington, and later, we will tell you more about each of them. The men will very soon begin their journey to get the much-anticipated and necessary prosthetics.

Yevhen Kalyuzhnyi

A soldier from Okhtyrka, Sumy region, father of 3 children. He was working at a wood processing facility before the full-scale invasion.

He was mobilized in May 2023, joined the 67th Separate Mechanised Brigade on the basis of the units of the Right Sector Volunteer Ukrainian Corps (formerly Da Vinci Wolves) and was sent to the Luhansk region.  

He was wounded on 20 July 2023 during an enemy assault on his positions. A grenade landed in the trench where the soldier was standing and exploded right on his body armor. 

His comrades immediately provided first aid to the victim. However, due to the heavy and continuous shelling, Yevhen had to wait 20 hours for evacuation. As a result of the injury, the soldier lost his right arm and leg.

 

Oleksiy Dernov

In civilian life, Oleksiy was a train driver, and when the full-scale invasion began, he was eligible for a mobilization exemption in accordance with his profession. However, he decided to volunteer.

In January 2023, he joined the 37th Separate Marine Brigade. In June of the same year, while performing a combat mission - storming enemy positions - he was ambushed by the enemy and had to run 4 km away from the pursuit under heavy fire. 

At first, the defender received a bullet wound to the shoulder. Later, after a mine exploded near him, his arm was blown off. But Oleksiy did not lose hope that doctors would be able to save it and brought it with him to the staging area. Unfortunately, they failed to save his limb.

 

Serhii Volyk

Before the war, the defender lived in the Rivne region and had his own business — a small service station. After the start of the full-scale invasion, in March 2022, he volunteered. 

First, he joined the 107th TRO Brigade, and later was transferred to the Aidar assault battalion as a sapper. On 27 July 2023, while helping a wounded comrade-in-arms, he was wounded himself. 

As a result of shelling, the soldier lost his arm. He almost died due to a large loss of blood. He was saved by the fact that one of his comrades noticed it in time and put a third tourniquet on his arm.

 

Petro Kulyk

Until February 2022, the man had no military experience, except for conscript service in the army. However, after being mobilized in the spring of 2023, he managed to take an officer's course in Odesa and military training in Germany.

He fought as a platoon commander in the 80th Assault Brigade, which was based near the town of Kostiantynivka in the Bakhmut direction.

During the evacuation of the wounded near the village of Klishchiyivka, he was wounded as a result of enemy shelling. Due to active hostilities, the defender was wounded for almost a day before being evacuated. 

He was able to apply a tourniquet on his own, and one of his comrades provided him with more professional first aid. This saved his life, but the defender lost his leg.

 

Thanks to a grant received by FFU from Pfizer Inc., our guys have the opportunity to undergo prosthetics and rehabilitation at the leading MCOP clinic in Washington, DC! Thank you for helping our defenders!