Ο στρατιώτης που περίμενε 491 ημέρες για να σωθεί: Πώς επιβίωσε

Yesterday, we all saw the video of Kostiantyn Vlasenko, a Ukrainian Defender from the 30th Brigade, being evacuated by drone from a position on the left bank of the Oskil River in the Kupiansk sector, Kharkiv region. I was deeply impacted by the video and his interview. After being seriously wounded in February, Kostiantyn lost one leg. Several months later, when gangrene set in, he had to amputate his other leg himself. Throughout all of this, he continued to hold the position alone. Several attempts to evacuate him by land had failed, so different units of Ukraine's Defense Forces came together to rescue Kostiantyn. I'm speechless.

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) October 20, 2026

491 days alone on the frontline. He amputated his own leg with a knife to survive. And when all hope seemed lost, a drone came to bring him home. This is the extraordinary story of Ukrainian soldier Kostiantyn Vlasenko. Imagine a concrete drainage pipe in almost-occupied territory. Two soldiers inside. Then there is only one left. Without legs. With no hope that anyone will come for him. And so it goes, month after month. Kostiantyn Vlasenko, from Kryvyi Rih, volunteered to fight. He had to beg for a long time just to be called up. He was assigned to a position known as “Vertun” — a concrete drainage pipe converted into a shelter. He and his comrade held it for months. Until one day, his comrade was killed — on his 50th birthday, February 16. Kostiantyn was left alone. The enemy knew he was there. They dropped a speaker playing a recording telling him to surrender. His own side would never save him, they said. A white drone would come for him and take him home. Kostiantyn answered over the radio: “russian warship, go fuck yourself.” And stayed at his position. Then came the drops from enemy drones. His left leg was badly injured, and he twisted his right. His legs began to die. The flesh on his left foot rotted away on its own. He amputated his right foot himself — with a knife, resting it on a brick. “Tears were running down my face. It had to be cut off. So I cut it off,” he recalled. Later, he joked to his commander: “Congratulate me — I no longer have flat feet or size 44 shoes.” When the weather warmed up, he crawled to where his legs had been left behind. There, he saw orange-and-black butterflies swarming around them. “I thought: God, butterflies have come out of my legs, too.” It sounds like something out of a Stephen King novel. And that is no metaphor. His wife had sent him King's The Outsider in a care package. The book helped keep him going, along with thoughts of his daughter, Khrystyna. Then came the rescue. A drone flew in to bring Kostiantyn home alive. The pilot dropped instructions. The drone landed and shut down its engines. Kostiantyn clipped himself on with a carabiner, gave the camera an OK sign and a heart, and took off. As they flew over a river, he feared only one thing: that they would be shot down and he would fall into the water. He couldn't swim. Other drones provided cover. The enemy shot one of them down. But Kostiantyn made it. 491 days at his position. Both legs lost. A drone sent to bring him home alive. And a man who still doesn't consider himself a hero. He says: “I don't like being first. I'd rather be second.” He is alive. He is back on solid ground. His heroism and his story will live on forever.

— UAVoyager🇺🇦 (@CrimeanVoyager) October 20, 2026