Serhii Krynitskyi dug in with two comrades in eastern Ukraine. He had no idea how long he would have to survive underground.
July 23, 2026, 02:32July 23, 2026, 02:32
Thomas Wanhoff / t-online
In the middle of the war, he kept a diary of himself and his comrades on his smartphone. Serhii Krynitskyi and two other Ukrainian soldiers had taken up positions in a hole in the ground near the city of Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine. In a war with drones, which are usually controlled from a safe distance, the men at the front are often forgotten. Now Krynitskyi’s videos have become public, and they show a shocking reality of life where the opposing units are still directly facing each other.
The 42-year-old soldier lived for most of the 346 days at the front in a small earth cave, three by four meters in size. From there he shot at Russian soldiers. He claims to have killed 23 of them, the news agency reports Reuterswho watched his 22 video diary entries.
In it he also describes how Russian tactics have changed. Instead of sending out many soldiers, groups of two to three soldiers often came up to 20 meters close to the Ukrainian and his comrade. He showed photos of killed soldiers. “Fools,” he says in the video, “they came to a place where they don’t belong.”
Cigarettes from killed soldiers
Krynitskyi is one of many soldiers who come from a civilian profession and serve their fatherland. He worked on construction sites and in agriculture, tried his hand at raising rabbits, reports Reuters. In 2024 he was recruited and, after a short training, assigned to the 24th Mechanized Brigade.
In April 2025, he and two other soldiers dug themselves into a former burrow. The war was raging around them. Krynitskyi joked in a video that he wasn’t sure if they built a shelter or dug their grave.
The entrance to the hole in the ground where Serhii Krynitskyi endured for almost a year.Image: Serhii Krynitskyi/24. Mechanized brigade
Drones hit again and again, he reports. You then had to re-attach the hole. One of the three fighters was killed quite early on. But Krynitskyi and his remaining comrade also fought against the elements. They sealed holes to keep out the icy draft. They could only keep watch at the exit for two hours each, then it got too cold. They sometimes had to wait days for supplies that came by drone. To charge his cell phone, the soldier removed the batteries from Russian drones that he shot down or that crashed. He took cigarettes from the killed Russian soldiers, as well as weapons. In one video he shows 13 rifles and pistols.
Image: Alina Smutko/Reuters
Then in March 2026 he heard an explosion outside his small cave. He rushed out into the fresh spring air and found his comrade lying on the ground, hit in the leg in a drone strike. Krynitskyi dragged him back to the shelter and frantically tore open his thick cotton pants to find the wound, Reuters reports. He applied another pressure bandage, but it was too late. He was now alone in the hole in the ground.
“Hero of Ukraine”
After reporting to command by radio, Krynitskyi received orders to abandon the position as the Russians were advancing. That night he crawled out of the shelter one last time to join some comrades who had holed up nearby and remained there for almost three more weeks.
Then followed a dangerous march to safety 25 kilometers away. In May, President Volodymyr Zelensky awarded Krynitskyi the “Hero of Ukraine” medal for his personal bravery. He rested at home in Kramatorsk and talked to students about his experiences. But the war is not over yet, not even for the 42-year-old. He reported back to his brigade.