For 346 days, Ukrainian soldier Serhii Krynitskyi lived beneath the battlefield in a cramped foxhole no larger than a small bedroom, surviving relentless Russian assaults, drone attacks and months of near-total isolation. His remarkable story offers a rare glimpse into how drone warfare has transformed modern combat, replacing large troop movements with tiny groups of soldiers fighting for survival in underground shelters across Ukraine’s front line.
Krynitskyi’s ordeal began in April 2025 near the embattled eastern town of Chasiv Yar, where he and two fellow soldiers dug a defensive position into the earth. What was intended as a temporary outpost became his home for nearly a year as the danger of rotating troops grew too great.
The emergence of drones has fundamentally changed the character of the war. Rather than concentrating forces in large formations, both Russia and Ukraine now disperse soldiers into small teams hidden across a vast battlefield. Constant surveillance by unmanned aerial vehicles means that any visible movement can quickly become a target, leaving many frontline troops trapped in isolated positions for months at a time.
Krynitskyi documented much of his experience using a mobile phone, powering it with batteries salvaged from downed Russian drones. His video diaries, reviewed by Reuters, capture moments of exhaustion, fear, dark humour and grief that reveal the psychological burden of prolonged frontline warfare.
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One of the most haunting recordings came on what he counted as Day 326 of his deployment.
His only surviving companion had been struck by shrapnel after a drone attack severed an artery in his leg. Despite desperately applying a tourniquet, Krynitskyi could not stop the bleeding.
Filming beside his friend’s body, he quietly reflected on how quickly life disappears in war.
“In the morning, you’re joking together,” he said into the camera. “And by the evening, it’s the gates of heaven calling.”
The death left him completely alone in the dugout after months of sharing every danger with his fellow soldier.
Life beneath the battlefield
Daily life revolved around survival rather than combat.
The soldiers constantly reinforced their foxhole after nearby explosions collapsed sections of it. During winter, they blocked freezing winds that seeped underground and limited lookout shifts to just two hours because prolonged exposure to the cold became unbearable.
Resupply missions frequently failed as drones and artillery made movement almost impossible. Sometimes several days passed without food deliveries.
To survive, Krynitskyi scavenged supplies from dead Russian soldiers. Cigarettes became prized possessions, while batteries recovered from crashed drones kept his phone functioning. In one video he proudly displayed packets of Camel, Winston and Chesterfield cigarettes collected during months at the front, joking that he had become a collector.
He also assembled an arsenal of captured Russian rifles, carefully lining up thirteen weapons outside the dugout.
Close combat in the drone age
Although drones dominate today’s battlefield, close-quarter fighting remains common.
Russian assault teams regularly approached the Ukrainian position in groups of just two or three soldiers, sometimes coming within twenty metres before firefights erupted.
Krynitskyi said he killed 23 Russian soldiers during his deployment, including one who appeared to surrender before suddenly aiming a rifle at him.
“He stopped aiming at me,” Krynitskyi recalled matter-of-factly.
His brigade confirmed the reported number of enemy casualties, although Reuters noted it could not independently verify every aspect of his account.
The brutal encounters illustrate how drone warfare has not eliminated infantry combat but instead forced it into smaller, deadlier confrontations fought between isolated groups of soldiers.
A war of endurance
Krynitskyi never expected to become a soldier.
Before the war, he worked in farming and construction before later breeding rabbits after recovering from a serious injury that left him in a coma for a month.
He was mobilised in late 2024 and received only brief military training before being deployed to eastern Ukraine, where Russia was intensifying attacks along the Donetsk front.
Throughout nearly a year underground, survival depended as much on mental resilience as military skill.
By the time he finally received orders to withdraw after Russian forces advanced further toward his position, his physical condition had deteriorated significantly.
He crawled away from the foxhole where he had spent almost an entire year, leaving behind the body of the comrade who had become his closest companion.
The journey to safety covered roughly 25 kilometres and took him through one of the most dangerous sections of the front.
Recognition after survival
In May, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy awarded Krynitskyi the title of Hero of Ukraine, the country’s highest military honour, recognising what officials described as extraordinary courage under fire.
Yet the psychological scars remain.
Speaking after returning from the front, Krynitskyi admitted many soldiers never fully recover from such prolonged deployments.
“Many guys have gone out of their mind,” he said.
His hands still shake when recalling the experience, and he struggles to speak about losing his friend after sharing almost a year together beneath the battlefield.
Today, Krynitskyi visits schools across Ukraine to speak with students about the war. Those conversations, he says, have helped him understand why his sacrifice mattered.
“I realized there, in those schools, that it wasn’t in vain that I defended our land and these children,” he said. “So they could study and see a clear sky.”
Analysis: The new face of modern warfare
Krynitskyi’s story reflects one of the most profound transformations in modern warfare. Cheap drones have fundamentally altered battlefield tactics, making large troop formations and traditional offensives increasingly vulnerable. Instead, wars are increasingly fought by small, isolated teams scattered across wide frontlines, often living underground for months with limited supplies and almost no opportunity for relief.
This shift has also changed the psychological nature of combat. Soldiers are no longer only exposed to intense battles but to prolonged isolation, constant surveillance and the ever-present threat of attack from above. Success is measured not only by territory gained but by endurance who can survive longer under relentless pressure.
As Ukraine’s war enters another year, stories like Krynitskyi’s illustrate that the defining challenge is no longer simply firepower. It is the ability of ordinary soldiers to withstand extraordinary physical and emotional hardship in a battlefield where technology has made survival itself one of the greatest victories.
With information from Reuters.
