“Serebrianka forest was hell on earth”. The story of “Scar”, a commander in the Ukrainian National Guard

Scar, a 24-year-old company commander in the 5th Slobozhanshchyna Brigade, has already survived the battles for Kharkiv, Balakliia, Kupiansk and Kreminna. He is tall, thin and looks his age, the National Guard said on Facebook. "I got the alias 'scar' because in the first few days of the full-scale invasion, the volunteer unit we were in was attacked by Russian aircraft.

Aerial bombs were dropped on us, several men in the unit were killed, and glass flew in my face, giving me my first scar," he recalled. The same Sushka (Su-34 attack aircraft) had already attacked again, but was shot down the next day.

Scar was a volunteer. In the first few days of a full-scale invasion, he went to the military enlistment office and was assigned to the National Guard.

"On 24 February, I looked out of the window and realised I had to go there, go to the place I had been avoiding even in my own thoughts. My country was under attack, and I had to fulfil the duty of every self-respecting man. The was no other way.

Saltivka [the district in Kharkiv - ed.] had been attacked, so I bought sausages and then headed to the military enlistment office." On his second day serving, Scar came under fire. The Russian occupying forces were so close to Kharkiv that they could fire mortars at the unit's location. It was then that Scar witnessed the first death in his unit.

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Before the full-scale invasion, Scar was a logistics engineer with a Masters from the Kharkiv National Automobile and Road University.

He studied in the Military Department of the Air Force University and received the rank of junior lieutenant and a military speciality. He happily admits that he always dreamt of a civilian career. Scar humorously recalls how he treated the other conscripts to the sausages he bought on their first day.

At the time, he didn't know that he would command them.

Photo: National Guard of Ukraine on Facebook

"When I was applying for my first salary, I was talent spotted and offered the role of platoon commander. If it wasn't for the conscripts, I think we would have lost this war. They didn't know that it was almost impossible to shoot down a modern bomber with one shot from an Igla (a Soviet-made human-portable air defence system) and stop a tank column with a few RPG-7s.

So in March 2022, they did it without thinking. We just got into cars, drove around the ring road, and returned with trophy weapons. In the space of a year, these people have become professionals", the National Guardsman says proudly.

After a month of training, Scar arrived in Balakliia, where he began commanding a company. He then went to Kupiansk, Lyman and Kreminna. "I realised that the front lines in Balakliia and here are completely different.

I haven't been to Bakhmut, but God has yet to come up with something worse than Serebrianka Forest. In my company, only 30 per cent were not injured, and we do not consider concussions an injury here. It's just hell on Earth," says Scar.

This 24-year-old commands a unit where most fighters are much older than him. But at the front, you are defined by your actions in battle. For his courage and decisive actions on the front line, Scar was presented with the highest state award.

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