Jakarta –
Maksym fought for 200 hours without a break, until finally he was killed by sniper bullets of Russian forces in the city of Bakhmut.
“For eight days, he didn’t eat, or sleep,” said his mother, Lilia. “He couldn’t even close his eyes for five minutes because a sniper could have shot him.”
Therefore, Lilia called Bahkmut City “hell”. This city has become the final resting place of one of her children, and her other child was seriously injured.
Her only consolation is that one child who died, saved the life of another child.
Maksym and Ivan were volunteers who fought against Russia when the country nicknamed the Red Bear invaded Ukraine last year. At that time, Maksym was 22 years old, and Ivan was 18 years old.
Ivan, the younger brother who still has scars, said that he was inseparable from his older brother. “He is always with me, and I am always with him. For me, he is the person I care about the most.”
Ivan showed me videos and photos of them together – in the trenches, in the military vehicles, trying to close their eyes, to rest.
As time passed, the smiles of the two young and handsome men changed. Gradually their faces looked more tired because the war had stripped them of their innocence.
In the last moments, they spent some time in brutal, close-quarters, house-to-house fighting in Bakhmut City. “It was impossible to sleep there. We were attacked 24/7 for seven days,” said Ivan.
The brothers’ combat unit is trapped in a windowless room in a building. They had to punch holes in the walls to establish firing positions. It was then that they got the order to withdraw.
Ivan recalls the moments before getting injured. “I remember I was reloading my gun; I came out from behind a wall, and there was a flash of light. I was thrown and I fell.”
He then said he felt the warm blood from his wound flowing down his face. He didn’t expect to survive. “I think I’m done; I’m out for blood and that’s how I’m going to die.”
But Maksym ran to save him and dragged him back inside the building to take cover.
“He revived me, took out my broken tooth, and gave me first aid,” said Ivan. This included putting a hole in Ivan’s throat to prevent him from choking.
Ivan shared a video of his brother carefully cleaning off his blood after the explosion. In another widely shared video, Ivan struggles to walk with a gash on his face, but still clutches the Ukrainian flag: a symbol of courage, and resistance in the battle of Bakhmut.
Ivan is sure he will not live if Maksym doesn’t help him. “My brother wouldn’t let me die. He saved me.”
Maksym immediately made a call for help via radio. However, the first medical team trying to reach its location, was already killed in the vehicle due to the Russian anti-tank missile.
It took another nine hours for a second medical team to arrive so Ivan could be treated.
And then Maksym took an extraordinary act of self-sacrifice. Instead of going far away with his brother to a safer place, Maksym volunteered to stay in Bakhmut, to lead their unit.
After a week of fighting, Maksym was killed by a Russian sniper.
In Ukraine, troop funerals were as noisy as the sound of artillery on the front lines. Respect for the troops who died on the battlefield, not only for the late Maksym.
Apart from the grieving family, all residents of Tomakivka City left their homes to share their condolences.
They knelt during the procession, until the body was carried to the grave – some clutching flowers or the Ukrainian flag. Prayers and sad music accompanied by tears and sobs.
During the last year, Maksym and Ivan’s parents also lived the same struggle with their children. Lilia and Serhii experienced sleepless nights – anxiously waiting for news from their two children.
They often receive text messages of reassurance, says Lilia – “We’re fine, Mom.”
But then came the news they had been dreading.
Lilia wailed over Maksym’s casket before it was finally lowered into the ground – accompanied by a barrage of weapons. “We still can’t believe it. My soul is torn apart,” Lilia told me after the funeral.
He said his only reason for survival was for his younger son.
He told me that Maksym had the chance to go with Ivan, but he didn’t want to leave his younger and less experienced comrades behind.
“He is a warrior. He is an angel. He is my sun. He will never leave his sister even though he knows he himself will die.”
Ukraine will not disclose the number of its citizens who died in this war. But if you look around the cemetery, then you will realize that this whole country must bear a heavy burden.
In this small cemetery, in this small town, there are rows of recently dug graves surrounded by flowers. Maksym is one of three soldiers buried by a local priest this week.
For Priest Roman, who used to be a soldier, Maksym’s funeral was a more painful part than any other funeral. He is a partner of the Maksym family, who always prays with his parents for the safety of their two sons on the battlefield.
“You often bury soldiers,” said Roman. “But it’s different if they’re your friends.”
At the funeral, Ivan still clutched the Ukrainian flag he brought with him when he was wounded on the battlefield – signed by his comrades, including his brother. His blood stains were still implied on the blue and yellow flag cloth.
I asked him if he regretted his decision to join the military unit. He replied: “We understand that we may not come back, but it is an honor to be able to fight for Ukraine. Therefore, I have never regretted it.
“My brother has given his life for our independence. Unfortunately, this independence must be paid for with blood.”
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(it/it)
2023-05-26 10:25:38
#Harrowing #Stories #Battlefields #Bakhmut
