Participant of the regional competition “Young Person of the Year - 2025” in the nomination “Unconquered: Strength of Spirit and Victory of Donetsk Region” Oleksandr Pidobid
I am Oleksandr Pidobid, born in 2000 in Bakhmut and lived in the village of Khromove, Bakhmut district. In 2018, I received a degree in pastry chef. Until 2019, he worked as a cook at a Japanese-Mexican restaurant in the center of Bakhmut.
In 2019, he decided to defend his homeland and joined the Armed Forces, signing a contract. I was sent to Desna to undergo basic general military training, after which I was assigned to one of the best airborne brigades, the Mykolaiv 79th Airborne Brigade. I always dreamed of becoming a paratrooper. There, I started as an ordinary rifleman in an assault company, and we began to build a cohesive unit. Our commanders passed on their combat experience to us, and thanks to them I learned more than I did in school: offensive and defensive tactics, tactical medicine, sapper work, and parachuting.
In 2020, we went on a rotation to the Joint Forces Operation/Atlantic Operation zone in Krasnohorivka to perform combat missions. I was assigned as a senior rifleman. It was the first emotions, the first combat experience, setting up positions, digging trenches, and sometimes there were shootings with the enemy. After staying there for six months, we went back to Mykolaiv for a rest. After resting, we continued our training again.
In the early summer of 2021, we were again sent on a rotation to the JFO/ATO zone, this time to the Luhansk region, to the Shchastia area. Having gained experience on the previous rotation, we already knew where to start and what to be prepared for: reconnaissance and round-the-clock surveillance of the enemy, equipping positions and trenches. I was the commander of a large-caliber machine gun crew. That's how the summer, fall and winter passed, and then we met the new year of 2022. If only we knew what it would bring us...
In 2022, around February 18, the enemy began active provocative actions, firing cannon and mortar artillery along the entire frontline every day. Intelligence reported on the accumulation of Russian equipment and personnel, and we already knew that we had to get ready. The night of February 24 came, it was quiet. I went on duty at 3 am. At 4:54 a.m. I felt the entire frontline glowing behind me and heard a buzzing sound. I realized what had started. A Grad rocket was fired at us, so we retreated to the reserve positions and waited for the enemy. It was dawn, and we could see the enemy wiping out everything around us, fighting for the strongholds began. The enemy was pushing us back, and we managed to storm some of them, but still retreated with losses. We received an order to retreat to Sievierodonetsk. After arriving there and having rested after a hard few days of fighting, we began to storm the settlements near Sievierodonetsk. After unsuccessful attempts, we took up favorable positions in the Severodonetsk forest. For a month we defended it, preventing the enemy from entering the city, and we were very successful in crushing them like cockroaches that kept crawling.
In May, we were transferred to the defense of Zarichne, Donetsk region. We held out for 6 days and were forced to withdraw because of the number of casualties. I received a light shrapnel wound to my left shoulder and contusion, and went to a hospital in Kramatorsk for treatment. After treatment, I went to Mykolaiv for rehabilitation and a medical examination. The medical board recognized me as partially fit for service in the airborne troops, after which I was transferred to the 61st Brigade for further service. That was the end of my combat service in the 79th Airmobile Brigade.
My combat experience in the 61st Brigade
In the winter, at the beginning of 2023, I arrived in Cherkasy, where the 61st Brigade was stationed. There I met my new commander. I was assigned to a newly formed sniper platoon. We started recruiting people and preparing for combat missions. In March, we went to Chernihiv region to defend the border. We performed tasks on the border for a year, and there I met my future wife, who became an angel for me in this dark world.
In 2024, we were sent to the Donetsk region to perform combat missions in the Avdiivka sector. I and 3 of my comrades went to the front line, where we stayed for 2 days. Two of my comrades were seriously wounded in the legs, and we were forced to withdraw. The brigade itself held its positions for a week, and then withdrew due to the large number of casualties.
In the summer, we went to Rivne to the training ground to restore the brigade. After recuperation, we went to the Sumy region to perform combat missions in the Kursk direction near Sudzha. After staying there for a while, I transferred to another unit at the end of 2024 and have been serving there ever since. Now I am a senior soldier, a UAV unit commander, preparing for the next combat missions.
I lost a lot during the war: my home, my brothers, my friends. But I have also gained a lot: a wonderful wife who has become my support and pillar of strength, a new home, new friends. We continue to work for victory.
GLORY TO UKRAINE! GLORY TO THE HEROES!