Oleksandr Yermakov from Zaporizhstal joined the armed forces to defend the country back in 2015.
Heroic stories of Ukrainian resistance to the Rashists are circulating around the world, creating more and more resonance. After all, each of them is a story about the choice that was the hardest to make for some people, had no alternatives for others, and some made it 10 years ago.
Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine launched on 24 February 2022 turned the lives of all Ukrainians upside down. Over the two years of war, many of us have found our place in this fight - among volunteers, at work, by the side of the wounded or abandoned and lost, among those who are searching for missing persons or rescuing prisoners. And on the front line.
Oleksandr Yermakov joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine to defend the country back in 2015. Since then, his war-time journey as a member of the military has taken him from the east to the south of Ukraine.
"Before the full-scale invasion, I took part in the ATO ("anti-terrorist operation") in the Donetsk region. So, in 2022, there was no doubt, I immediately went to the military commissariat on the first day, and the next day I went to Kryvyi Rih and Kherson. In the spring of 2023, I was sent to Bakhmut, then to the Zaporizhzhia sector, where I took part in the counter-offensive, and since October last year I have been working in Avdiivka," Oleksandr said.
Before the full-scale invasion, Oleksandr had worked at Zaporizhstal for more than 25 years and was awarded the honorary title of the steelworks' veteran. The defender still fondly remembers his hobby - chess. Oleksandr is a 25-time chess champion of the enterprise. He says he misses this activity.
"I had a rather busy social life at Zaporizhstal. Aside from working at the railway transport department as a railcar inspector, I am still the current vice president of the regional chess federation. I have warm relations with colleagues. Our railway workers sent me trench candles, and the steelworks provided me with a bulletproof vest and helmet. It is very important to know that colleagues do not forget us and support us," says the defender.
During the hostilities in Ukraine, the defender from Zaporizhstal served as a gun commander and operated Rapira anti-tank guns and a variety of modern weapons that destroy the enemy and protect the Ukrainian people. For his service to the Zaporizhzhia region, Oleksandr Yermakov received a third-degree award.
"I have three children; my eldest son is helping me and my unit a lot as a volunteer. My own brother also defended Ukraine, and last summer, unfortunately, he was killed in the Luhansk sector during a combat mission. In this war, we all lose someone, but we keep going. If not us, who?" added Oleksandr.
