American volunteer Sean Fuller / Screenshot from video
The beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion was the most painful day for millions of Ukrainians. But in the first days, it was not only the citizens of Ukraine who stood up for the defense of our state.
American volunteer Sean Fuller, who joined the defense of Ukraine back in 2018, in an interview with Channel 24 emotionally shared his memories of the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion and how he found himself on the verge of death.
Fuller was stationed on the front line, about 100 meters from enemy forces. On the eve of the invasion, he had come to Kyiv for a short vacation to take care of personal matters and update his documents. However, he was soon ordered back to the front.
According to him, in February 2022, the conditions were extremely difficult: cold, snow, mud, and constant nightly alarms due to attacks. The unit performed tasks to protect positions and was on constant combat readiness.
Sean Fuller's full interview: watch video
Defense of Mariupol
Later, the order came to go to Mariupol, which was already surrounded at that time. The fighters gathered in a hurry, took only the most necessary things, and carried some of the equipment on themselves. They had to sleep right in the field, without the possibility of lighting a fire.
Later, the unit reached the Krasna Polyana area near Mariupol, where contact with the enemy was expected. There, according to the soldier, some of the other units could not stand it and withdrew, after which the Ukrainian forces found themselves under threat of encirclement. Russian forces used tanks in the battle.
Seven tanks were moving towards my position and my detachment. I was evacuated a minute before they completely surrounded ours,
– said the volunteer.
He also mentioned the losses among his comrades. One of the soldiers with the call sign “Chornomorets” ordered the others to retreat and stayed to cover the retreat, drawing artillery fire on himself. The soldier died.
Fuller also remembered another commander who remained in position and died in battle, trying to save as many soldiers as possible.
The volunteer himself was injured by fragments of a tank shell. After that, he was evacuated to Pokrovsk, where he handed over his weapon for cleaning, and later he was sent to Lviv for surgery.
He emphasized that the first fight was an extremely difficult test for him, but also an experience he will not forget.
How the military remembers the “evacuation” from Mariupol
Before leaving Azovstal, according to Colonel Stanislav Kerod, a senior officer of the Media Relations Sector of the Western Department of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, the Ukrainian military conducted a full personnel check to accurately record everyone who was in the factory's dungeons. Each soldier was photographed, because no one trusted Russian guarantees and understood the risk of manipulation by the enemy regarding lists, losses, or missing persons.
All decisions were made with the lives of the personnel in mind: weapons and communication equipment were destroyed or disabled so that they would not fall into the hands of the enemy. The soldiers withdrew in an organized manner, with awareness of the situation, emphasizing that this was not a surrender, but the completion of the defense of Mariupol by order of the command.
Before leaving Azovstal, serviceman Mykhailo Yangolenko, who survived captivity, recalled that the last days of defense were extremely difficult: the enemy used massive air bombing, naval artillery, and tried to break through from all directions. The situation was critical, and the Ukrainian forces were left without a sufficient number of anti-tank weapons and artillery, so on May 15, the soldiers were informed of the order to stop the defense of Mariupol and begin an organized evacuation through captivity.