In the midst of war, miracles like moment of bravery, a moment of grace or a life stolen from the carnage sometimes go unnoticed. Surrounded, wounded, isolated in positions where it was impossible to rescue them, targets of Russian assaults and bombardments, "The Biker" and "The Restless One" theoretically had almost no chance of surviving the battle.
The military doctor who treated the two combatants still couldn't believe it. In a Donbas cellar used as a medical post, the officer sees dozens of wounded arriving every night from the front lines, with the war forever engraved on their bodies. Some will die, others are out of action. At the entrance to the first-aid post, on the brigade flag hanging on the wall, an anonymous hand has added an inscription in black felt-tip pen: "From our veins flows freedom."
The two men were rushed from the first-aid post, then disappeared in the long procession of the hundreds of anonymous wounded fighters who were distributed daily to hospitals across Ukraine. Three days later, they were hospitalized somewhere in the center of the country. They seemed surprised by the interest they were arousing. "There's nothing really extraordinary about our story..." they said. The two soldiers, members of a front-line infantry unit, agreed to recount their adventure on the condition that their names and units are not mentioned. The pseudonyms, "The Biker" and "The Restless One," are references to aspects of their lives.
The story began one day in April, when The Biker's unit, made up of eight men divided two by two into four military positions, had to be relieved. "The soldier accompanying the relief was wounded, so I was ordered to go and meet them, to guide them," he said.
The NCO took three men with him and set off. "At one point we came out of a grove, and the Russians immediately machine-gunned us. Two of my men were killed, and I was wounded in the leg." He lost track of the fourth man, who did survive. The Biker radioed his commander. "Thanks to a drone that could see me, he guided me to the nearest position, held by another army unit. That's where I was given first aid." A bullet entered his right thigh and exited through his knee, without damaging the joint.
The Restless One who had only joined his comrades at the front the day before, was one of the men left behind. That day, they saw their leader and half the unit disappear, and replacements never arrived. Since The Biker had left with only the radio, they had no further communication with command. The Russians attacked even more violently than before.
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