A Ukrainian infantryman cut off his own leg to survive alone on the front line for over 200 days before becoming the first soldier to be evacuated by aerial drone in the history of warfare.
asserted
infantryman → cut → warfare
Kostiantyn Vlasenko endured 491 days in the killzone, first hiding in a cramped concrete pipeline with comrade 'Baski' as swarms of Russian drones prevented their rescue.
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swarms → endure → rescue
They were forced out after eight months when the pipe flooded last winter and hid in an abandoned school before Baski was killed on his 50th birthday.
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Baski → force → birthday
Russia sent in a speaker telling him to surrender but the 49-year-old infantryman responded with the defiant phrase from the defenders of Snake Island: 'Russian warship, go f*** yourself!'
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infantryman → send → f
Unable to walk from the blast wounds, he crawled inside a cast-iron furnace to protect himself from drones and remained there for a further eight months.
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he → walk → months
Commanders sent him medical supplies and food by drone and delivered a package from his wife, Tetyana, which included a Stephen King novel, The Outsider.
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which → send → novel
Severely frostbitten, his left foot rotted and fell off, before his right leg started 'dangling' so he placed it on a brick and cut through the remaining tissue with a knife.
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he → frostbitten → knife
'Tears were flowing, but I had to cut,' he said.
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he → flow → ?
Kostiantyn Vlasenko cut off his own leg to survive alone on the front line for over 200 days before becoming the first soldier to be evacuated by aerial drone in the history of warfare
A fleet of Ukrainian drones flanked the craft on all sides to protect the wounded soldier
Clinging to a harness on the drone's underbelly, the 80kg soldier was lifted into the sky
Surrounded on all sides by enemy drones, in heavily mined terrain in Kharkiv region, eastern Ukraine, his commanders decided to attempt the world's first ever aerial drone evacuation.
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commanders → cut → evacuation
They dropped a phone to his position with a video instructing him on how to tie himself to the underside of a drone, as well as written instructions in Ukrainian and Russian.
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They → drop → Ukrainian
A heavily modified bomber drone then swooped in and, after attaching himself, Vlasenko made a heart sign and a thumbs up to its camera.
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Vlasenko → modify → camera
It rose 120 metres in the air and flew 18km from Petropavlivka to safety, escorted by a fleet of three Vampire drones, one of which was taken by the Russians.
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one → rise → Russians
Describing the rescue after 491 days on the front line, Vlasenko said: 'I have no words…
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I → describe → words
Now recovering in hospital, Vlasenko, callsign 'Kostya', revealed the extraordinary story behind the evacuation to Ukrainian journalist Yuriy Butusov while wearing a Gurzuf Defense cap - a nod to the company which made the drone that rescued him.
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that → recover → him
Hailing from Volodymyr Zelensky's hometown of Kryvyi Rih, Vlasenko was working as a truck driver at a quarry when war broke out.
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war → hail → quarry
He drove to the draft office and demanded to be signed up after which he served with the 2nd Battalion of Ukraine's 30th Mechanised Brigade.
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he → drive → Brigade
Vlasenko was ordered to evacuate an injured comrade and take over from them at a position in a concrete drainage pipe in Kharkiv region.
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Vlasenko → order → region
The soldier had stepped on a petal mine and lost their toes and one foot while leaving the pipe to collect supplies on June 2 last year.
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soldier → step → June
After evacuating them that day, Vlasenko took over with one 'brother-in-arms', callsign 'Baski'.
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Vlasenko → evacuate → arms
In the middle of the pipe, a hole had been crafted down into an underground shelter.
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hole → craft → shelter
They would take it in turns to hide in the 'shelter' while the other kept watch in the pipe above.
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other → take → pipe
They should have been rotated after two months, but Russia sent so many Mavic surveillance drones it was impossible to leave.
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it → rotate → drones
'They had so many Mavics, the sky was dirty,' he said.
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he → have → Mavics
'If you didn't see it, it saw you.
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it → see → you
'
An attempt to relieve them failed.
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attempt → relieve → them
'They tried to replace us once, but they didn't make it,' he said.
'
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he → try → it
Later, other brothers-in-arms went out just to retrieve their bodies, but they couldn't make it either.
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they → go → it
They couldn't recover them.
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They → recover → them
'So I said there was no need to come for me.
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I → say → me
Better that I die alone than more people die.
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people → die → ?
After eight months in the pipe, it was flooded on February 14 this year which forced Vlasenko and Baski to abandon their shelter.
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which → flood → shelter
'We crawled out and were already soaked as we moved,' he said.
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he → crawl → ?
'And, by the way, a hard frost set in again then.
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frost → set → way
'Baski and I were walking together.
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Baski → walk → ?
But I had no strength left.
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I → have → strength
The pair reached a ruined school undetected by drones and radioed their location.
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pair → reach → location
Ukrainian drones dropped dry clothes, but Russian reconnaissance aircraft spotted the deliveries.
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aircraft → drop → deliveries
'Then they started dropping munitions,' Vlasenko said.
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Vlasenko → start → munitions
'I was hit in the leg, but my feet were so frostbitten that I didn't even feel anything strike me.
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anything → hit → me
Basically, my left leg was shattered.
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leg → shatter → ?
…and 101 more, not listed.
The Aporia
