Serhii Rybalko: “If God forbid, war happened again, I’d go to the front again”

"I realized what war really was"

"I went to the front line like someone who had been through it all," says Serhii, recalling his battlefield mission. "Something buzzed above us. My two comrades and I hit the ground — once you're down, you freeze. Ten minutes went by, then 15 more. My legs went numb. I asked, 'How much longer?' They told me, 'Don't move, or we're done for.' Mines started landing around us — 20 meters away, then 10 — but we didn't move. That's when I first realized what war really was."

Serhii never intended to be a soldier. Like many Ukrainians, he studied at a military department at his university from 2010 to 2013, which provides basic military education to students while they study for their degree without committing to a full-time military career. That didn't help him in the war. He says many of his friends studied at such departments just for the sake of it, and he did the same.

In 2015, Serhii earned a veterinary science degree, moved to Denmark for a student exchange, and stayed there for seven years. There, he made friends with Ukrainian immigrants who had their football team and met with them to play the sport every week.

Besides football, he enjoyed cycling, skating, swimming, and hiking. Serhii also loved road trips. "We'd wake up one morning and decide — let's drive to Germany! We'd quickly pack and hit the road. Life was carefree," Serhii says.

On the eve of February 24, 2022, Serhii had dinner with his Danish neighbors. Rumors about a full-scale invasion were spreading, and everyone was anxious about what might happen.

"A Danish neighbor told me, 'Serhii, the war will start tomorrow.' I replied that I didn't believe it. I refused to believe that a full-scale war would begin until the very last moment," Serhii recalls.

With those thoughts, Serhii left for a vacation in Ukraine. On February 23, after his plane landed at Kyiv's Zhuliany airport, he went to visit his mother. After dinner, the family went to bed, only to wake up the following day to calls and messages — the war had begun.

"It turned out that wasn't the last shell"

Serhii believes that you discover who you really are in times of trouble, so he didn't hesitate to join Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces.

He was injured in 2023 in the eastern Donetsk region near the city of Vuhledar. His memories of that day are fragmented. The soldiers were digging trenches in a newly recaptured position. Opposite them, not far away, stood Russian units, including Wagner fighters.

"When the enemy starts artillery fire, they pound and pound. They know when exactly their last shell is fired and then run. As the group commander, I was watching this and looked out. It turned out that wasn't the last shell. That's when I lost consciousness," says Serhii.

The soldier woke up with a tourniquet on his leg. "I saw that a piece of my finger was missing. I tried to stand up but couldn't. My leg was positioned strangely. I shifted into a sitting position using my elbows. At first, it didn't hurt, but then the pain hit hard. I asked my commander to finish me off. Thank God he didn't," Serhii says.

The commander quickly organized an evacuation, and within about 40 minutes, Serhii was taken out.

"I remember being carried in a blanket with my broken leg. My foot was twisted, looking right at me. I told the guys, 'Grab my backpack. My trophies are in there.' They said, 'We can either carry you or the backpack,'" Serhii recalls.

The doctors told him it was a miracle he survived, but Serhii insists the real miracle was his commanders' quick thinking and the doctors' professionalism.

"I absolutely don't regret not running away"

Serhii underwent more than 25 surgeries under general anesthesia. The doctors told him he probably wouldn't walk again. "But I really wanted to walk. In October last year, I stood up. It was hard, but I did it," he says.

This year, Serhii received a new prosthetic in Estonia. He's still getting used to it and learning to walk with it. He says:

"I feel a huge difference. It's much lighter, and in my case, weight made a big difference. Of course, I wish I didn't need it at all, but I'm happy with it."

Now, Serhii is back working at the gas company where he was employed before the war in his home region of Cherkasy. He's been removed from the military register but wants to return to service. He jokes with the enlistment office, saying he'll pay them to take him back.

"I absolutely don't regret not running away. If God forbid war happened again, I'd go to the front again. It's just simpler there. People here don't see where this is all heading. Or maybe it's an adrenaline rush? I believe there's still something we can change," Serhii says.