Ukrainian soldiers recount three days crawling through Russian minefields

Khokhol had to crawl for three days and two nights through a minefield along the Russian defense line, after straying into an enemy stronghold.

In October, a soldier codenamed “Khokhol”, a member of the Artan special forces of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Defense of Ukraine (GUR), was sent to support a GUR unit at the Kupyansk front in the Kharkov region of northeastern Ukraine.

"Our platoon had 28 people, carrying weapons, night vision goggles and other necessary equipment and went to support them," Khokhol said.

Khokhol and his comrades arrived at dusk. Fighting with Russian forces broke out the next morning, killing two of his comrades and wounding eight.

Khokhol then led a force to raid the Russian stronghold, capturing six enemy soldiers. He and two comrades escorted the prisoners back to base at around 3 a.m., as moving in the early morning would have been easy to detect.

"At that time I thought nothing would happen," Khokhol shared.

Ukrainian soldier codenamed "Khokhol" in a photo posted on November 20. Photo: Ukrainska Pravda

However, trouble quickly came to the Ukrainian soldiers. Their night vision goggles and thermal imaging devices were running low on battery, while their unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was charging, so Khokhol's team had difficulty finding their way.

"We kept going without realizing we had taken a wrong turn at a fork and were heading straight towards enemy lines," Khokhol said.

In the darkness, three Russian soldiers emerged from a forest grove and demanded that his team read out the password. Khokhol initially thought they were Ukrainian soldiers, but quickly realized he was wrong.

"I shouted 'Enemy' into the radio and opened fire on the group of Russian soldiers. They immediately recognized who we were and called for support. The enemy threw grenades at us, killing the prisoners standing in the middle," he said.

After a brief fight, Khokhol and his two comrades tried to retreat in two directions. He ran about 50 meters before being targeted by Russian soldiers with rocket-propelled grenades from a distance. As Khokhol tried to escape enemy fire, a loud explosion rang out nearby, knocking him unconscious.

"That's when I realized why the Russian soldiers didn't chase me. It turned out I had run into a minefield," Khokhol said.

The Ukrainian soldier woke up the next morning to loud explosions. He realized that enemy drones were dropping bombs and grenades on him. "Luckily the Russians couldn't see me because the grass around was so tall, but they knew I was hiding around there," Khokhol said.

Ukrainian soldiers lie face down in a Russian minefield in Kharkov in December 2022. Photo: WSJ

Khokhol realized that he had only three options: Surrender, hold out in the minefield, or find a way back to base. After some thought, he decided to use the thick grass to crawl through the minefield, finding a way out, because at this time he could not contact his two remaining teammates.

Khokhol grabbed two magazines, a band-aid, and a knife and began crawling through the grass. Noticing a Russian drone hovering overhead, Khokhol made a fake surrender sign and asked which direction to go. The drone tilted its wings to point Khokhol in the direction of the Russian forces, and he knew he needed to crawl in the opposite direction.

The Ukrainian soldier dashed into the grass and down a hill, where he realized there were many anti-personnel mines and tripwires. To avoid hitting a mine, he crawled very slowly, only stepping on grassy areas, a sign that there were no buried mines.

Realizing that the Russian UAV was trying to follow him, he hid in a large bush, covering himself with leaves for camouflage. The UAV circled around for a while and completely lost track of him.

Khokhol continued to hide in the bushes until nightfall and continued to crawl, continuously for three days and two nights to escape the battlefield. "In total, I had to crawl on my stomach for a distance of 3.5 km," Khokhol shared.

The Ukrainian soldier said there were many ways to crawl, but he had to choose the way to keep his body as close to the ground as possible, while trying to move slowly and secretly.

"I crawled for about 10 meters and then rested to regain strength, and also did not make my body move too much, which could easily be detected by the enemy's infrared goggles. When my body temperature dropped, I continued crawling," Khokhol said, adding that he was almost shot by an enemy sniper on the first day.

By the second day, it was raining and foggy, making it difficult for Khokhol to determine his direction. He relied on the familiar sound of machine guns from Ukrainian positions to keep him crawling. When he needed to sleep, he tried to find dry grass to keep warm.

"After spending the second night outdoors, I realized that I was losing strength and that I didn't have much time left. I started hallucinating, even imagining my wife while crawling and talking to her. I was disoriented, not knowing where I was crawling," he recalled.

Another source of motivation for Khokhol was a Ukrainian soldier codenamed Conan, who swam for 14 hours straight to survive after his boat capsized in the Black Sea. “If he can swim to shore, I can keep crawling,” Khokhol said.

Ukrainian 123rd Brigade prepares to fire mortars near the Dnieper River, Kherson Province. Photo: AFP

At one point Khokhol crawled so close to the Russian soldiers' positions that he could clearly hear their conversations, but he still managed to get past them.

Khokhol eventually crawled to the village of Ivanivka and found a small bottle of water to quench his thirst. When he reached the village cemetery, he decided to stand up, feeling that he could walk there safely.

“That's when I realized I had forgotten how to walk,” he said.

After a while, he reached a Ukrainian defense post in the village. They gave him some food and showed him the way back to base. "I decided to walk the rest of the way, trying to hide in the bushes. I couldn't crawl anymore," Khokhol said.

The doctor also said that Khokhol had a perforated eardrum and some bullet fragments in his body. He was then taken for surgery and treatment.

"Sometimes at night, I feel like I'm still crawling through the Kupyansk forest. I close my eyes and I see that scene in my head," Khokhol shared.

"I still remember every word I said to her," Khokhol said. "I told her, 'I'm sorry it took me so long to crawl to you.'"

Pham Giang (According to Ukrainska Pravda, Business Insider )

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