I’m a Ukrainian soldier spending Christmas in the trenches – we won’t be celebrating until we’ve finally defeated Putin

11 months ago 7

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A BRAVE but war-weary soldier is spending Christmas shivering in trenches and missing fallen comrades – but vowed she will always find the strength to fight on.

Frontline combat medic Inna Korolenko said there will be no time for festive celebrations until Russia is defeated.

Inna Korolenko told The Sun all she is praying for this Christmas is no casualties on her team[/caption]

The combat medic has spent two gruelling years at the front[/caption]

She will not be celebrating Christmas until the war is over[/caption]

On Christmas Eve, Inna wants the world to remember that Ukraine is still at war and currently facing down an unrelenting Russian winter offensive.

Speaking to The Sun, she explained that it’s hard to be apart from her family for a second Christmas but she still is still hopeful that Ukraine will win and she will get to go home.

Discussing what Christmas feels like at the front with 206 Battalion, she said: “I have a wonderful people near me, we are working together and we take care about of each other.”

However, Inna said: “I can’t celebrate when my people stay in trenches.”

She is praying for no casualties on Christmas day. “I hope that there will be no request for evacuation, and there will be no injuries.

“I love my team. I have already lost many in this war, and I don’t want to lose my people again.”

Despite the brutal, freezing conditions – she hopes she can bring some Christmas kindness to her exhausted battalion.

“I have prepared gifts for my brothers in arms and I will be delivering food and medicine to the trenches.”

Asked how she has kept going for two years of brutal service, she said: “Sometimes I dream that I might be at home these days.

“But my family and friends love me, wherever I am, and they tell me that every day.

“So, I have the strength to fight, help and defend my land.”

There is also no way, she said, that Vladimir Putin’s bloody war would take away her love of music and singing.

“My military service has lasted almost 2 years, and today music is an exhalation after the situations I have experienced – a way of rehabilitation not only for me, but also for my military fellows.”

Another frontline soldier, Sashko Ramez, told The Sun that he has no time for anything festive in the trenches.

“I’m not feeling Christmas either this year or last year,” he said, adding: “It’s easier on the soul” not to think about it.

The soldier fought and was wounded in the battles near Lysychansk but has returned to the frontline once again.

In civilian life, he was the frontman of a jazz band.

Sashko described how all his thoughts are currently focused on how best to support his comrades during this difficult winter.

“I have to get this attitude in myself and bring it to the soldiers. I will spend Christmas in the units of one of the brigades conducting Cultural Forces activities.”

Inna and Sashko are two of the stars of a haunting series of festive songs that have been given a dark twist by Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield.

Sung by troops surrounded by the rubble and ruin of Bakhmut – the eastern frontline city that has been at the centre of one of the most devastating battles of the war.

Frank Sinatra’s “I’ll be home for Christmas” has been turned into “I won’t be home for Christmas”, while the line “war is over” from the John Lennon classic “Happy Xmas” has become the “war is not over”.

The video was made by UNITED24, a media initiative launched by President Volodymyr Zelensky as a way to raise money and support the war effort.

UNITED24’s coordinator, Yaroslava Gres, said: “We wanted to wish the world a Merry Christmas, while reminding everyone that the war in Ukraine continues.

“Sang by the Ukrainian military, these lines sound so sweet, so sincere. Ukraine needs support. Today, on Christmas, and New Year.

“We believe that the world will feel it again and will be there for us.”