"When I Saw Enemy Infantry, I Started Working on Them": The Story of a Cyborg from the Kalinouski Battalion

Near Vorzel, a Belarusian and his comrades found themselves 60 metres away from Russian equipment.

His name is Aleksei, call sign "Psychologist". The guy now has a prosthetic leg instead of his left leg - a consequence of a tank shell landing. His story was published by the Kalinouski battalion.

The guy arrived in Ukraine early in 2015.

"I came here to join the Azov regiment. After taking a two-week young fighter course, I stayed there with my Belarusian friends to work as instructors. We periodically went to war," says Aleksei.

It lasted about 1.5-2 years. Afterwards, the guy finished his military career and returned to civilian life. He is married.

But when the war started, Aleksei went to the Azov base on the first day.

"The first days, we defended the airport in Vasylkiv together with other armed forces. We stayed there for a couple of days, waiting for the big troop deployment. After that, we headed to Gostomel, stayed there, waiting for a massive attack, but it did not happen," recalls the soldier.

A serious fight awaited them near Vorzel. Kalinovets and his comrades found themselves 60 metres away from the Russian equipment.

"We did not know at the time that they had launched a large-scale attack on Irpin, Bucha and that our forces were withdrawing from the road where the enemy equipment was supposed to drive. Many units drove by, our guys hit them. I, when I saw the infantry, began to work on them. I destroyed the first [military] objects that got out of the vehicle. Then I moved so they couldn't open fire on me and ran after my machine gunner.

Later, the fighters headed to the San Marino Hotel Complex to report the situation. The commander decided to circle the defenses as the Kalinas were surrounded.

"As soon as we took up defensive positions, the first shell from a tank hit the house, wounding some of our guys. I delivered first aid. When they started to take the wounded outside, as the house was a dangerous place to stay, it began to crumble and burn, the second tank shell wounded me.

I was hit by shrapnel in the armour plate, my leg was torn off. It was hanging on a scrap of skin and tendon. I fell down and realised I couldn't get up. The boys were shouting that their legs had been cut," Aleksei describes those events.

He had a turnstile with him. Using one hand (as his left hand was broken by shrapnel), he put the turnstile on, tightened it and started to crawl to safety, as he was expecting more attacks on the building. Afterwards, a comrade from the 80th Brigade pulled him to the evacuation point.

"I was taken to the 7th city hospital in Kyiv and had a complete amputation. After that, I was transferred to another hospital where I was recovering. I had plasma and blood transfusions.

For a month, I was in different hospitals and was transferred from one region to another. After that, I began to undergo rehabilitation. One prepared my leg for prosthetics - they developed ligaments, muscle strength.

So far, Alexei is walking on prosthesis with the help of crutches. He is very calm about his place in the war.

"For any Belarusian the chance to prove himself in the war in Ukraine is a chance to get closer to that freedom which Belarus has long lost. A chance to help a free country with which we are united by history. It is a moment to feel free if it is a war for a just cause," says the fighter.