“During the evacuation of the wounded Oleg, we managed to find and save another Ukrainian soldier!”: The story of the hero

“Oleg performed combat missions as part of a special forces unit in the occupied Kharkiv region”

- Oleg is our eldest son, a career officer who has already defended Ukraine during the antiterrorist operation. - told father of the hero Leonid Mikhailovich and mother Lyudmila Nikolaevna. - Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, he first served in the Kyiv territorial defense, and then became a special forces officer. Of course, he didn’t tell us anything about the service. But we, the parents, understood everything … Because we were also worried about our son nine years ago.

We knew that Oleg was performing combat missions as part of a special forces unit in the occupied Kharkiv region. But already in April, the connection with his son disappeared. They waited, they believed, they hoped. Because they understood well that special forces are special forces. They hoped that after the successful completion of the task, the son would definitely inform about himself. But spring was already over. And hellish silence. On his birthday - June 4, the son did not call us and relatives and friends. We also could not get through to him, although we cut off the phone for several days.

Afterwards we were shaken by terrible news. Our youngest son, also a career officer, a defender of Ukraine, who was also looking for Oleg wherever he could, came across a scary video on social networks. The Russians boasted about how a group of Ukrainian fighters was destroyed in the Kharkiv region, laid out their bodies on both sides of the road, took cynical and mocking selfies in front of them … One of the dead soldiers wore berets, very similar to those worn by Oleg in the service.

Read also: Ukrainian drone attacked a military airfield in Russian Engels: there are dead, damaged aircraft (video)

Further, no less shocking and cynical footage appeared - the invaders dumped the bodies of the dead into a pit - an impromptu mass grave. The sleeve of the jacket of one of the victims was bent. On the arm of the slain warrior, the younger son recognized the woven black-and-white bracelet that his brother always wore. And we also recognized this amulet and talisman of Oleg… Unfortunately, the faces of the dead were disfigured, so it was not clear who they were.

However, there was no official announcement of his son’s death. Therefore, we still harbored hope - who could have similar shoes and a bracelet. Oleg’s brothers-in-arms said that his son performed tasks near the urban-type settlement of Borovaya, Izyumsky district, Kharkov region. And then they ran into an enemy ambush. The battle lasted about twenty minutes, after which the connection with the fighters disappeared. So we learned the whole truth about the heroic death of Oleg only after the final liberation of the Kharkiv region from the Russian invaders.

“In the decayed pea jacket of the deceased, whom our youngest son and we recognized earlier, we found the remains of a military ID and a driver’s license named Oleg”

- When this place was liberated from the Russians in October, the brothers-in-arms of the son scouted out the place of Oleg’s probable death, - rub the tears of the hero’s parents. - Indeed, not far from the old cemetery, where the road and woods, found a mass grave. Local residents confirmed that this is the burial place of the dead Ukrainian soldiers. People, risking their lives, even installed a wooden cross under the noses of the infidels…

Read also: “Even if rearmament and reconstruction take several decades, Moscow will be a threat to its neighbors,” the analyst said.

As it became known later, Oleg and his brothers carried out more than one successful operation behind enemy lines. Perfectly destroyed the rashists. A group of special forces after a successful special operation on April 13 should already be returning to their own. However, the Russians were waiting for them with superior forces in a prearranged ambush. Perhaps our warriors were treacherously betrayed by some scoundrel. The guys courageously accepted the last battle. Almost all the defenders died… But the enemy also paid a bloody and heavy price for the death of the guys…

When the bodies of our fighters were exhumed, in the decayed pea coat of the deceased, whom our youngest son and we recognized earlier, we found the remains of a military ID and a driver’s license in the name of Oleg. Then all doubts were completely gone. Unfortunately, the miracle did not happen. But we were finally able to bury our son according to Christian custom. The son was taken on his last journey in his native Krasnoselka on the Alley of Heroes, where two more of our fellow countrymen who died have already been buried.

- As we have already said, our son is a regular military man, – say the parents of the hero. - In general, we live in the village of Krasnoselka of the Bershad city territorial society. I am also a former military man, ensign, head of a pharmacy. My wife is a kindergarten teacher. Oleg was born in 1976. I served in Germany for some time. My wife and son were with me. Even before studying at school at the age of four, my son shot at army ranges with a machine gun and a pistol!

Read also: “Putin has lost solid ground under his feet if he is so obviously trying to flirt with everyone by touch,” political scientist

When we returned to Ukraine, my son graduated from the village school almost with honors! He only had a couple of fours. He also played a lot of sports. He especially liked to lift weights! The 32-kilogram weight was like a toy for him from a young age! Oleg firmly decided to become a military man! Submitted documents to the Odessa Military Institute. At the introductory interview, the gray-haired wise general, after carefully listening to an intelligent and well-trained young man, asked straight into his eyes: “Son, maybe you want to study at the faculty of home front employees?” Oleg answered straight into his eyes: “Comrade General, I want to study only as a combat officer!”

Cadet studies were difficult, but Oleg liked it. His favorite subjects, as in school, were the exact sciences and physical education. Despite being busy at work, he found time to play sports and read his favorite books. As a kettlebell lifter, he repeatedly defended the honor of his alma mater in various competitions. As a conscientious excellent student in studies and an excellent athlete, he had the right to study outside the military university. But he never abused it, he always adhered to discipline. How many letters he received! We also received so many thanks for our son! Oleg graduated from a military university, as well as school, almost perfectly. For academic success, Oleg was recommended to be awarded the rank of senior lieutenant ahead of schedule a year after graduation and service. While usually other officers were given “starley” already three years after graduation and service.

Oleg served in the city of Beregovo in Transcarpathia. Then he was offered to train fighters for the peacekeeping battalion of the Ukrainian and Polish military, which was supposed to be based in the Balkans. Oleg became a deputy company commander for combat training and trained more than a hundred literate, well-hardened morally and physically soldiers. However, due to some bureaucratic procedure, the son was never taken to the very unit from the peacekeeper. Very offended, Oleg put the report on the table.

Read also: “A wounded soldier with a missing twelve and a half centimeters of bone is already undergoing rehabilitation”

In civilian life, the son received a second higher education in economics. He successfully worked at the Kyiv customs and made a good career. He married and raised two sons with his wife. And in 2014, when a cruel enemy treacherously attacked Ukraine, he again put on military epaulettes …

“During the evacuation of the wounded Oleg, we managed to find and save another Ukrainian soldier!”

- The son, as a former career officer, was drafted into the ranks of the National Guard of Ukraine in 2014, - the parents of the hero recall. - He was appointed to the post of company commander of a military unit in Vinnitsa. The son said that he was teaching young recruits in the camp. In fact, in the fall, the Vinnitsa guards defended the strategically important 32nd checkpoint in the Luhansk region, preventing the enemy from breaking into the depths of the region. There they were surrounded and fought with superior forces of the Russians for 21 days.

We saw reports how our guys held a siege there, suffered from constant thirst and hunger and exhausting constant shelling, how they froze in old clothes and summer shoes on cold autumn nights. We saw a makeshift field kitchen. And how the guys collect rainwater from puddles and the roadside after autumn showers … However, they did not know that our Oleg was in charge of all this. Later, the son briefly told how our soldiers went to hostile positions at night and captured captured Muscovites and separatists there. Then they were exchanged for water and food … And Oleg himself often boldly negotiated with enemy commanders. And they did not shoot … They respected the principled and honest officer.

Read also: “In the last days of this year, the enemy will try to make us dark and difficult”: Zelensky warned of a possible new strike on Ukraine

We learned how Oleg was wounded. Then a strong wind was walking, so the guys did not hear the whistle of an enemy mine in the air. And only at the last moment Oleg heard something big breaking the branches of trees above his head. The guys managed to hide in time, but Oleg was wounded … As we later learned, his son’s body, legs, and head were severely chopped. One fragment “walked” through the body and got stuck in the 11th rib. Forever … So they didn’t pull him out …

Combat brothers made sure that Oleg was evacuated from the surrounded checkpoint. The separators allowed and even offered to fit our volunteer ambulance. The car drove up to our wrecked tank, which was standing not far from the 32nd checkpoint. This tank was burned when our military tried to break through the cordon. And when Oleg was carried on a stretcher to the ambulance, they heard a human groan from the side of the road… A wounded and frostbitten Ukrainian soldier was found in a ditch. As our son told us, it was one of the Ukrainian fighters who tried to break through to them. The fighter’s name is Nikolai, he is from the Ivano-Frankivsk region. The warrior was seriously injured and had frostbite on his back and body. As the military himself said, he lay like that for three days, even drinking his own urine so as not to die of thirst. And when he heard human voices, he began to moan loudly - if they were his own, they would have saved them, but if the “separas” would have finished him off so that he would not suffer … Fortunately, they were his own …

Oleg subsequently recovered from severe injuries, was awarded the Order “For Courage” III degree and more medals. He constantly, whenever possible, met with his brothers from the National Guard - the defenders of the 32nd checkpoint.

And in February 2022, the son was back in service. This time already the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Oleg was called up for service voluntarily, despite the disability of the second group received after the 32nd checkpoint. And already in the spring of 2022, he heroically accomplished his last feat …

Recall the tragedy of the Tverdokhleb family: Marina died of a heart attack as soon as she learned about the death of her beloved man in battle.

In the photo in the title Oleg Tarakhkalo during the service and customs.