Myroslav, che è in guerra da quando aveva 16 anni: “Il mio unico sogno è che la mia città rimane ucraina. Che non ci saranno stracci russi [flags] Qui, che non ricostruiranno le statue di Lenin. Che la mia famiglia non dovrà fuggire a ovest. “

“It was the beginning of the war, the ATO. I had to run around a bit with various volunteer battalions and bend the truth a little about my age. When the command found out I wasn’t 18 yet, it was too late to kick me out. And I had already achieved my goal — I was at war. At the time, it seemed completely right and logical to me. Crimea had just been seized, and we were preparing for partisan activity. One day, our trainer called us and told us to meet at a point. We built a checkpoint — it was the first Pavlohrad checkpoint,” Myroslav said.

“My mom called me when I was in Opytne or Vodiane and asked me to tell the truth. I did — and her response surprised me. She gave me her blessing, you could say. She told me, ‘Take care of yourself and kill them,’” the soldier said.

In 2022, he was wounded in Popasna during a combat mission.

“I was hit in the inner thigh — at least that’s what I thought at the time. It was almost a direct firefight with a tank. I was really lucky the shrapnel got stuck on the side. If it had been a centimeter higher, it would’ve hit an artery and I’d have bled out… There was only one ‘road of life’ to get out on foot. I walked eight kilometers with the shrapnel in my knee,” he said.

After recovering, Myroslav returned to the front. He emphasized that people in the rear should not have to understand what life is like for soldiers on the front line.

“People in Soledar or Bakhmut really understood us because they lived the same way — in the same basements, under the same bombs, with the same hunger, cold, and lack of basic conditions. Infantry bears the brunt of the first blow and fights this war so that people in the rear don’t have to understand what’s happening here,” he said.

The only thing he dreams about is that a year from now, things in his hometown won’t be worse than they are today.

“That there won’t be Russian rags [flags] here, that they won’t rebuild Lenin statues. I dream that my city remains Ukrainian — that’s my only dream. That my family won’t have to flee west. I never imagined my city would be this close to the front. Now Pavlohrad is like Pokrovsk was during the ATO days. And that’s a bad thing. I dream that Russian soldiers won’t get even a kilometer closer,” Myroslav said.

[https://suspilne.media/dnipro/977397-mriu-sob-moe-misto-lisilosa-ukrainskim-vijskovij-miroslav-z-pavlograda-akij-z-16-rokiv-na-fronti/](https://suspilne.media/dnipro/977397-mriu-sob-moe-misto-lisilosa-ukrainskim-vijskovij-miroslav-z-pavlograda-akij-z-16-rokiv-na-fronti/)

A soldier at 16 years of age, still a child for God’s sake. And yet so brave to willingly fight for his family’s freedom and right to live in their own homes.

I truly hope that this hero sees his dream become reality and that he lives a healthy and fulfilling life after already serving his country for 11 years and counting 💙💛