Ukrainian «Hammer» returned to the front line after losing a leg due to a Russian landmine

A soldier, known by the call sign 'Molot', which means Hammer, sits in a muddy trench in the south of Zaporozhye Photo: AP

A Ukrainian soldier returned to the front in the southern part of the Zaporozhye region after losing his leg.

Nikolai Rusetsky was depicted sitting in a muddy trench with a prosthetic leg sticking out. camouflage uniform.

The soldier, known by the call sign «Hammer», which means «hammer», despite his injuries, returned to the front line of the Kiev counteroffensive.

Last summer, performing a combat mission in the south Ukraine as part of the 79th Air Assault Brigade, he stepped on an anti-personnel mine designed to detect approaching steps and destroy everything in its immediate vicinity. left leg in an explosion.

Just a month before, his mother had died in a Russian rocket attack.

Though the road to recovery has been long, the Hammer is back on the front lines. Photo: AP

He is one of tens of thousands of Ukrainians who received fatal injuries.

And, like many of them, he still wanted to serve his country.

« I became happier in life, ”Molot wrote about his return to duty on social networks. “I will leave sadness and grief for later! And now only Victory.

After the injury, he learned to walk first on crutches, and then on a prosthetic leg.

In the pictures posted online, he is resting under a tree in full clothes. military equipment, his new boot with a prosthesis is lying on the ground in front of him.

The road to recovery was long.

But now he is back, performing combat missions as part of the Ukrainian police unit.

p>