{"id":8314,"date":"2024-03-24T08:01:38","date_gmt":"2024-03-24T08:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/24\/41-days-in-a-bunker-how-a-battle-raged-on-ukraines-bloody-front-line\/"},"modified":"2024-03-24T08:01:39","modified_gmt":"2024-03-24T08:01:39","slug":"41-days-in-a-bunker-how-a-battle-raged-on-ukraines-bloody-front-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/24\/41-days-in-a-bunker-how-a-battle-raged-on-ukraines-bloody-front-line\/","title":{"rendered":"41 Days in a Bunker: How a Battle Raged on Ukraine\u2019s Bloody Front Line"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/03\/23\/multimedia\/23ukraine-avdiivka-dispatch-01-pqtg\/23ukraine-avdiivka-dispatch-01-pqtg-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"41 Days in a Bunker: How a Battle Raged on Ukraine\u2019s Bloody Front Line\" title=\"41 Days in a Bunker: How a Battle Raged on Ukraine\u2019s Bloody Front Line\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The two Ukrainian soldiers were trapped. After repelling waves of Russian attempts to storm their small bunker in a cellar near an abandoned house, the enemy was on top of them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThey surrounded us and started throwing grenades,\u201d said Pvt. Vladyslav Molodykh, 39, whose call sign is Hammer. \u201cThey were shouting, \u2018Surrender and you\u2019ll live.\u2019 There was no point in surrendering because they would have torn me apart.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It was around 10 a.m. on Dec. 14.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Private Molodykh would emerge from the freezing, cramped cellar 41 harrowing days later \u2014 alone but alive.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The battle for the bunker <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/02\/17\/world\/europe\/ukraine-avdiivka-withdraw-despair.html\" title=\"\">in Avdiivka<\/a>, in eastern Ukraine, was only a small part of one of dozens of clashes raging along a 600-mile front. But it highlights how hard it is to both defend and attack in a war increasingly fought in bloody, close-quarter combat, with Ukrainian forces <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/06\/10\/world\/europe\/ukraine-ammo-shortage-artillery.html\" title=\"\">running low on shells<\/a> and Russia seeking to barrel forward with brute force.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A member of the 71st Jager Brigade, Private Molodykh recounted his story from a hospital bed where he was recovering from frostbite and other injuries. His account was supported by his commander, the soldiers who rescued him, medics who treated him and unedited drone footage viewed by The New York Times.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-9ycfei eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-4191767b\">The Attack<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Private Molodykh, a divorced father of two, joined the army as a volunteer six months before Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. By the time he was deployed late last year to Avdiivka, the scene of <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/10\/13\/world\/europe\/ukraine-russia-war-avdiivka.html\" title=\"\">months of fierce fighting<\/a>, he was no stranger to the \u201czero line,\u201d where the enemy can be fewer than 100 feet away and drones are a constant threat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Dec. 13, Private Molodykh and three other soldiers were deployed to a position at an abandoned house in the south of Avdiivka that had a nearby root cellar, normally used for keeping vegetables and other food in the winter. It was in that cellar, a two-room space without windows and with access to the house only via a narrow tunnel, where the soldiers would engage in a desperate fight for survival.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Taking a bunker \u2014 even one that is only minimally fortified, like the cellar \u2014 is bloody work. While Russia has <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/01\/08\/world\/europe\/ukraine-russia-missiles.html\" title=\"\">stepped up aerial bombing<\/a> to ravage Ukrainian fortifications, it needs the infantry to storm positions like bunkers, where defenders have the advantage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The house where Private Molodykh was stationed was being used by Ukrainian forces as an observation post, and they had established fortified firing positions there to target Russian forces moving in their direction. They also had firing positions inside the bunker.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But when Private Molodykh and his unit arrived at the site, the area had been blanketed with a thick fog for days, allowing Russian forces to approach undetected.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">They attacked the morning after.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe repelled the first assault immediately,\u201d Private Molodykh said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Thinking they had time to rest, one of the soldiers, Pvt. Ihor Tretiak, 38, whose call sign is Terminator, went to the bunker to warm his feet and Private Molodykh joined him to make tea. The two other members of the team, who stayed outside, suddenly raised the alarm.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The snow-covered streets around the house erupted in a storm of bullets and grenades. The two privates said that they had been pinned down in the bunker, firing back at about 15 to 20 Russian attackers. One Russian soldier who charged the bunker was shot dead by Private Molodykh, and he tumbled down into the tunnel entrance, they said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The two men in the bunker said they heard one of their comrades outside begging for his life after he had been captured by Russian soldiers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201c\u2018Don\u2019t shoot. I want to live,\u2019\u201d Private Tretiak, speaking in another hospital, where he was recuperating, said he heard the Ukrainian soldier saying. \u201cBut they just shot him, and I understood that I wouldn\u2019t surrender.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Both soldiers outside the bunker were killed in the fighting on Dec. 14, and for the next three days, Private Molodykh and Private Tretiak held off the attackers. Private Tretiak, with shrapnel wounds in both legs from grenade explosions and his right hand ripped apart by a bullet, reloaded magazines for his comrade.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On the fourth day, the abandoned house was blown up, blocking the entrance to the cellar and trapping the two Ukrainian soldiers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe Russians completely buried it to prevent us from getting out,\u201d Private Molodykh said.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-9ycfei eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-6dc9f66f\">An Escape<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Inside the cramped bunker \u2014 one of the rooms was about 12 feet by 12 feet and the other was smaller \u2014 the Ukrainian privates soon ran low on food and had no means of communicating with the outside world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe ate once a day,\u201d Private Molodykh said. \u201cHalf a can of canned meat or some porridge.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">After two weeks, Private Tretiak decided that if he did not make a run for it, he would die from his wounds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI made a decision for myself: Either I leave now, or we both die,\u201d he said. \u201cI even thought that if I came out and they shot me there, at least it would be quick rather than dying of hunger or thirst.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Private Molodykh decided to stay.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Private Tretiak found a weak spot among some collapsed ceiling beams. He pushed them aside, cleared the soil and climbed out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Soon after, Private Molodykh heard \u201cseveral bursts of automatic fire\u201d and feared the worst.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI thought he was killed,\u201d he said. He would not know that his comrade had survived until more than three weeks later, when he left the bunker.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As Private Tretiak emerged into the sunlight, he said he felt a brief moment of euphoria, breathing fresh air for the first time in weeks. Then he heard gunfire. He dashed for a nearby quarry, dislocating his shoulder as he dove for cover.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He wandered through the devastated streets of Avdiivka, hoping to find Ukrainian soldiers before Russian troops found him. He recalled how he had played dead when a drone circled overhead. The drone swept in close, but he said he did not flinch.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">When the whir of the drone faded, he kept walking, scavenging for food and water in abandoned homes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On the second day, he saw a soldier approaching. \u201cIn the first seconds, I didn\u2019t understand who it was,\u201d he said. \u201cI thought it was a Russian and it was the end.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But it was a Ukrainian from a different outfit. Private Tretiak was safe.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-9ycfei eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-4d0c57bf\">Alone in the Darkness<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the bunker, Private Molodykh huddled in the dark after his comrade left as the earth around him shook with near-constant explosions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">One night, he heard Russian forces discussing his fate. They could set fire to the position, he said he heard them say. And they weighed the risks of digging him out to kill only one person.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Private Molodykh eventually ran out of food, and then had to reach his emaciated arm out of the hole Private Tretiak used to escape to gather snow for water. He prepared to die.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThere was darkness in front of my eyes,\u201d he said. \u201cI almost lost consciousness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Then things got eerily quiet. For two days, he did not hear the Russians. The explosions outside subsided.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">At 8 a.m. on Jan. 23, he heard someone calling his name.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-9ycfei eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-2562df30\">The Rescue<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A 21-year-old Ukrainian private, who asked to be identified by only his call sign, Gerych, in accordance with military protocol, said the Russians had been pushed from the area after a brutal fight. The Ukrainian soldiers had been told that one of their comrades might have been alive at the position, but it had been weeks since Private Tretiak\u2019s escape.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">When his unit reached the bunker, he called out: \u201cHammer, Hammer, this is Gerych. Are you there?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cYes, it\u2019s me,\u201d came a weak voice from under the debris.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Sergeant Anatolii, 37, a medic who treated Private Molodykh, said the man who emerged was just flesh and bones, mentally exhausted and barely alive.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cHow much can one person endure?\u201d the sergeant wondered.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But, Gerych said, \u201cHis eyes were shining with happiness that he had finally reunited with his own people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Private Molodykh tried to make sense of what he saw around him. When he went into the bunker, there had still been a neighborhood above ground.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cNow, there was only one house left at the end of the street,\u201d he said. Russian corpses were everywhere, he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The fight for Avdiivka was intensifying. Soon after Private Molodykh was rescued, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/02\/17\/world\/europe\/avdiivka-russia-ukraine-war.html\" title=\"\">the defense of the city collapsed<\/a> and Russia captured the ruins of the bunker where he and Private Tretiak had holed up. Both soldiers said they expected to return to the fight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIf we don\u2019t hold them,\u201d Private Molodykh said, \u201cthey\u2019ll be everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Liubov Sholudko contributed reporting from across Ukraine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The two Ukrainian soldiers were trapped. After repelling waves of Russian attempts to storm their small bunker in a cellar near an abandoned house, the enemy was on top of them. \u201cThey surrounded us and started throwing grenades,\u201d said Pvt. Vladyslav Molodykh, 39, whose call sign is Hammer. \u201cThey were shouting, \u2018Surrender and you\u2019ll live.\u2019 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/03\/23\/multimedia\/23ukraine-avdiivka-dispatch-01-pqtg\/23ukraine-avdiivka-dispatch-01-pqtg-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3601,12645,12643,3495,8240,5627,12644,11626],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8314"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8314"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8316,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8314\/revisions\/8316"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}