55-year-old courageous Ukrainian soldier with no legs defends his house from Putin’s forces

A 55-year-old Ukrainian soldier who had both of his legs amputated is engaged in combat to protect his residence from Vladimir Putin’s occupying soldiers.

After Vladimir Putin launched his “special operation” in late February, Vasil Shtefko—whose mother was Russian—volunteered to fight. This is true even though the auto mechanic lost his legs when he was 38 years old.

When he called from their house in the village of Kushnytsya in central Transcarpathia, Ukraine’s westernmost province, stating he had enlisted and was travelling to the east, his wife Oksana was cooking pelmeni, Ukrainian dumplings.

“I didn’t think he would actually do it. She admits, “I shed a few tears. She eventually regained control though. I then returned to my pelmeni.

Vasil, who refused to discuss how he lost his legs, enlisted in Transcarpathia-based 128th Mountain Assault Brigade, an elite military force with about 6,000 members.

His infirmity caused the brigade to reject him in 2014, but when Putin invaded earlier this year, he convinced the committee that he just had one prosthetic and was accepted.

It’s nearly hard to determine without having him pull up his pants, Oksana remarked. When he unintentionally broke one of the prosthesis, everyone in the war zone learned the truth.

The group battled a year later in Debaltseve, one of the largest conflict areas in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine, which is currently the centre of Putin’s attention and where separatist groups supported by Russia battle Ukrainian forces.

The brigade received various honours, including the highest national title, Hero of Ukraine, for Serhiy Shaptala, the brigade’s commander and the current Chief of General Staff of Ukraine.

According to the brigade’s press officer and former journalist Yaroslav Halas, what sets the unit apart is “its specific training for fighting in the mountains.”

Shtefko, a driver and mechanic, revealed to The Daily Beast from the front lines that he had considered enlisting as soon as he learnt about the conflict.

He declared, “I adore my nation.” “I will overcome all challenges I come across in order to defend Ukraine. [My government] helped me receive prosthetic limbs and gave me a pension—a little one, but one nonetheless.