“Neither our people nor the Russians saw me.” The story of a fighter who fought alone for 46 days behind enemy lines
October 30, 2023. The outskirts of Klishchiivka near Bakhmut. Ten Ukrainian soldiers enter two frontline positions. They were supposed to be replaced in a few days. But the replacement never came — the Russians launched the offensive.
November 4. There is a dead man at the position on the side of the road. Two other soldiers went to fetch water but did not return. Volodymyr Hudim, a soldier with the call sign “Tykhon”, is left alone. Without communication, without food and water.
Miraculously, he was the only one of their group to survive. From the day the Russians surrounded his position, he stayed alone in the enemy's rear for 46 days.
How did he manage to do it? We visited Volodymyr Hudim in a military hospital where he is currently undergoing rehabilitation and learned everything from him firsthand.
About how he drank water from puddles and melted snow, and sometimes his own urine; how he divided nine cans of stew he found for three weeks; how he kept a diary so that someone would know the date of his death; how his trench became a grave for the occupiers; how he got lost and cut off his finger; and how the wounded, hungry and exhausted man finally heard the longed-for “come out, we are Ukrainians…”.
This is the incredible story of Volodymyr Hudim.
Volunteer from Kherson
At a military hospital, I meet nurses: “Where are you going?”
The room number speaks for itself. “Oh, you’re visiting Hudim. He's a celebrity here. He was interviewed.”
A military man is sitting on a hospital bed. He greets me with a simple smile and at the same time a deep look. He reacts to being called the “celebrity” with a shy smile. I, on the other hand, start a conversation and involuntarily peer into every wrinkle on his face. As if they can tell me even more about everything the man has been through.
Volodymyr is 54. He is from Kherson. He worked in paramilitary security at the railroad. He says no one believed there would be a great war. At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the man found himself under the occupation. He survived it relatively calmly, although he admits that he was afraid of inspections and torture. After all, in 2018 he was in the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.Territorial Defense.
“We had two inspections in our neighborhood, but they did not come to my house. They went through a street or two and went back.”
Meanwhile, Hudim and his fellows were meeting and discussing what they would do when “our people come”. They decided to go to war unanimously. As soon as the Ukrainian Armed Forces liberated Kherson, the men registered.
“We came, and the military enlistment offices were not even open yet. We came to the police station, knocked on the door, and they sent us back to the military enlistment office. We returned there, and they said: ‘We're not working yet, we're just putting things in order. Come back in a week, guys’”.
Volodymyr Hudim went to the front in the middle of summer 2023. A month and a half later, while already at his position near Bakhmut, he received his first injury — a shrapnel hit him in the shoulder. But after recovery, in September, he took up arms again. Then he managed to liberate Klishchiivka. Positional fighting continued behind the village.
“I haven't seen anyone at the position since December 8”
Tykhon was a squad leader — the commander of a combat vehicle of the 22nd Separate Mechanized Brigade. On the penultimate day of October, he and his nine fellow soldiers went to the frontline positions a few kilometers from Klishchiyivka. Halfway there, one of the groups was hit by an enemy drone. However, the wounded were sent a replacement in the morning. The full rotation of the entire group was to take place in 4-5 days.
There were three soldiers with Hudim at the position. There were five more on the neighboring one, 40 meters away. It became hot on the second day.
“A subversive group attempted to enter the neighboring position, and our troops threw a grenade at them. One person was killed there and one more was wounded. And the next day the subversive group came to us. We destroyed it, but one of our guys was killed,” Volodymyr says.
On December 4, when the supplies ran out, two guys from Tykhon's position went to fetch water. But they never returned. Their fate is unknown. His radio station went down. In fact, from the moment he lost contact, he was also considered missing.
On December 8, the Russians launched the offensive.
“Until December 7, I could still see the guys at the neighboring position, but when the Russians came, it was over. Apparently, they were covered by mines or something else at night…”
Hudim was saved by the location of the position, which the occupiers avoided. It was on the side of the road, and the Russians were 200 meters away, and in the center of the In military jargon, it is a line of fortifications or a place of equipment disguised by trees and bushes.forest plantation.
“Neither our people nor the Russians saw me. Because whenever a drone appeared, I always hid. Although our people were also looking for people… But I didn't know whose drone it was — ours or not.”
On the same day, two Russians jumped into Volodymyr's trench. In the darkness, they probably did not see the uniform and started looting. Tykhon climbed out through another entrance and threw a grenade. Picking up the occupiers' radio station, he realized why he was being avoided: the Russians were warned that the road could be mined.
“I was destroying these 'single' men who jumped into a neighboring trench during the shelling. At my position, I hit 10-12 people like that. I say it was like a magnet pulling them there. There were already a lot of bodies lying there, and they still came…”
Volodymyr found a notebook from one of the occupiers. He tore out the pages with entries. Since then, he started keeping a diary himself.
“If something happens to me, I want my family to know at least the date of my death.”
“I ate a bit of canned food that the mice didn't finish. There is no water”
The day has passed. I thought our guys would launch a counteroffensive, but so far it's quiet. Only the artillery is working, the shells are hitting nearby. Both ours and the Russians are fighting. I ate a bit of canned food that the mice did not finish. There is no water. But in general, we are holding on for now. I am alive and well.From Volodymyr Hudim's diary for November 9
In a stressful situation, you don't want to eat as much as you want to drink, says Hudim. When the water ran out, he collected rainwater.
“If it rains, it's a holiday. I scooped up empty bottles from puddles… What can you do? Water is water. Sometimes I had to drink my own urine. Then it got colder, it started snowing. It would melt during the day, and I would put the jar down, and it would drip down.”
The day passed without any changes. We are still waiting for our guys. As always, the artillery and mortar are working. I want to go home now. My mom is worried there without any news. I love you all. I'm alive and well.From Volodymyr Hudim's diary for November 11
In search of food, he searched the dead and bombed enemy trenches. In one of them, he dug up six cans of stew. He survived on them for over a week.
After the food ran out, the fighter decided to leave the encirclement. The weather was on his side: when it rains, drones don't fly.
The morning has come. I'm thinking of leaving the encirclement at night. Our guys haven’t come. I will leave at night, and then — as God wills. Amen.From Volodymyr Hudim's diary for November 19
Wounded behind enemy lines
Volodymyr Hudim tried to reach his people but instead lost his way.
“I got lost. I went into unfamiliar territory. I never found Klishchiivka. Apparently, I went a little bit to the side and entered the enemy's rear. It was already dawn. I reached the forest belt and found a dugout and hid in it. There was no one there, although there were things both ours and Russian. Maybe the position was changing hands.”
A week later, when Tykhon came out of the trench, he froze. There were two Russians in front of him.
“They saw me, and I saw them. I just took a grenade and threw it. One fell, and the other managed to jump into the dugout,” theman recalls.
At that moment, Volodymyr felt the impact of an explosive wave. He did not understand what it was: a grenade, a mine, or a drone drop. The blow mostly hit his arm. At first, he did not feel any pain in his leg.
I am wounded. A finger on my hand was torn off. My leg was cut.From Volodymyr Hudim's diary for November 23
“I looked: my finger was hanging… It was impossible to save it anyway, so I immediately amputated it. I cut it off with the scissors I had in my first aid kit. I treated the hand with alcohol wipes and injected myself with painkillers. It saved my hand — there was no festering on it.”
Tykhon's right hand was injured. Since November 23, the handwriting in his diary has been changing. There are drops of blood on the paper.
Writing with the left hand is uncomfortable. I am alive. I don't know what will happen next. But judging by the sounds [of gunshots — ed.] they move on.From Volodymyr Hudim's diary for November 25
In one of the dugouts, the fighter found a real treasure — a bag of medicines, cigarettes, and nine cans of stew. He divided these nine cans for 3 weeks. He continued to take water from the snow.
"After two weeks of being wounded, my legs swelled up. It was obvious that I suffered frostbite. The temperature was below zero. The frost was not that strong, but it was enough. That's what the doctors say. Although I think I got gangrene from the explosion and barotrauma,” Volodymyr says, looking at the crutches under his bed. Eventually, his left foot had to be amputated in the hospital.
I am alive. My hand is fine. It does not rot and does not hurt. But I don’t know about my leg… The fingers are half black, the blister has burst. Other than that, everything is fine. However, I have been starving for a week. I'm also out of cigarettes. I can't make a raid, and Russians walk in groups of 3-4 people. I have to wait, it's dangerous. Attacking means giving up my point. But I'm alive. Amen.From Volodymyr Hudim's diary for December 15
“Come out, we are Ukrainians”
After his injury, Hudim stayed in this position for almost a month. For the last week, he had no food. His patience was running out, so he decided to take a chance and climb right through the field, which was obviously littered with mines.
Morning. I thought about going today, but I remembered that it was St. Nicholas Day. I think I'll go when it gets dark. I can't go through the forest plantation, because the Russians are sitting there. I will go through the field. It might be mined, but there is no other way. Let's hope for the best.From Volodymyr Hudim's diary for December 19
But he postponed his retreat every day. Sometimes because of snow, sometimes because of rain — there was mud or ice on the field. A few days later, when he climbed out in search of food, he was spotted.
“I crawled out to search that Russian. Maybe I could at least find some cigarettes. Because, as they say, once you smoke, you don't feel so hungry. I crawled up and heard a shout: ‘Get up, come here!’ in Russian. I immediately ducked down, thinking maybe they were not shouting at me. And then I heard again: ‘Get up, come here!’ and a shot over my head. And then I realized that it was definitely for me.”
The man thought it was the Russians. He got up and then jumped back into the trench, which was about five meters away. But about an hour and a half later, he heard someone near his trench: “Come out, we are Ukrainians. Just put your hands forward”.
As the military later told Volodymyr, they did not shoot at him because they saw a trident on his hat through the scope.
"And then there are our guys… Our uniforms, everything… They asked: ‘Who are you?’ I said: ‘I am from the 22nd Brigade’. And they said that they were also from the 22nd Brigade. I said, ‘Thank God!’ I was so happy… But the first thing I said was: ‘Give me something to eat’.”
As it turned out, the Russians had retreated from here a week earlier. He heard on the radio at night that there was a shift, but he didn't believe it. He was afraid of the Russian language.
“I say hope dies last”
Volodymyr Hudim was found on December 22. He made the first call to his mother: to tell her he was alive and well.
“Alive and well” was the phrase that ended almost every entry in his diary. Volodymyr says that he used these words to support himself.
“I had confidence that I would live. And it kept me going. You know… There is always hope. Everyone is scared, as they say. But you have to think about the good.” I ask again: “Did you stay in such conditions and think about the good?”
“Well, what's there to think about,” theman replies, “You know the wise words? If you are not confident in yourself, you have already lost by 50%.”
During this time, he lost 15 kilograms. “This is the best diet,” Volodymyr adds and laughs. “I am telling you: you have to look for the positive in everything!” And I am surprised: it's incredible. Where does that positive come from after all this?
He now advises relatives of missing persons to hope to the last.
“I got a call from the family of a guy from my company who went missing. They asked if I knew anything. And I just said that he went to fetch water and did not return… I don't know where he is. But I say: hope. Hope is the last to die.”
He is one of Tykhon's two brothers-in-arms who are still missing. They also failed to retrieve the body of their fallen brother-in-arms in that ill-fated position. The fighting for it is still ongoing.
Volodymyr does not feel any kind of exclusivity or heroism and asks that his story not be embellished, that it “not be covered with myths”. Although, he says, he was awarded the medal “For Courage in Battle”.
“You see, my heroism, or I should say merit, is that I did not immediately abandon my positions. I did not run away. Solely this. But otherwise… Thousands of guys are fighting and defending the same way… I don't feel any exceptional situation. Because anyone could be in my place.”