“We were at the forefront, sat on two armored personnel carriers, we were just starting to move, and then our car ran into an anti-tank mine - it exploded right under me.
At the time of the explosion, I managed to shout “To battle!”, But loudly - the boys later said that they had heard the command well, ”recalls 33-year-old Major Alexander Zhukov, who almost died in July during a special operation.
The command that the Major managed to shout out before he lost consciousness was enough for his subordinates to take up all-round defense.
A battle ensued with an enemy sabotage and reconnaissance group.
After the explosion, Alexander was thrown 15 meters away from the car. The area there was wooded, and his colleagues could not immediately find a man to evacuate.
When, after a skirmish, they loaded the wounded major onto the second armored personnel carrier and began to leave the battlefield, the car ran into a second anti-tank mine.
“I really thought this was the end.
I saw a black corridor, a white light, my youngest daughter was standing and shouting something to me, and I said: "Forgive me, everyone, that's all."
And everything faded.
It was all in my mind while I was flying,” he says.
After two explosions, Alexander received nine fractures, concussion, barotrauma and serious damage to the eardrums.
The serviceman is sure that if his colleagues did not fight back, but tried to immediately leave or run away, the whole group would have died.
But thanks to the timely given order, the fighters were able to take up defense and force the enemy to retreat.
Alexander Zhukov with colleagues on a special operation.
© Photo from personal archive
“I survived thanks to my subordinates.
The enemy’s calculation was that after the explosion we would run away from the armored personnel carrier, this is a target.
Later, ours combed the area where the battle took place, and saw that 5 meters from the place where we were blown up, everything was in stretch marks: they were on the ground, at the level of the belt, head.
Moreover, in such places where there is a continuous forest: the sunlight does not pass there, which means that you will not see the fishing line.
And if mine ran into the forest, we would all be put there.
They also found a loaded RPG (hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher) and a German anti-aircraft mine - after it there would definitely be nothing left of the armored personnel carrier, ”says Major Zhukov.
“I can’t sit in the headquarters”
Alexander spent his childhood and youth in the North Caucasus.
“I was born in 1989 in Mozdok (North Ossetia), and although the Union soon collapsed, the director of my school retained the system of Octobrists and Pioneers.
We went to our grandmothers to help them in the garden and at home, at festive rallies near the monuments we stood with machine guns and gave a gun salute, went to subbotniks in the village, ”says Alexander.
In the 1990s, the Caucasus was restless.
The man is sure that such an environment influenced his choice of profession.
“I remember how a hospital was blown up in Mozdok and several dozen of our soldiers died.
My friend's mother died in a bus that was blown up by terrorists.
It all affected me, of course.
Since childhood, I liked everything military.
What else should a man do, how not to protect?
says the soldier.
© Photo from personal archive
Alexander went to the NWO zone on his own initiative.
In Moscow, he served as deputy chief of staff of the brigade, and his position did not involve direct participation in hostilities.
Zhukov was appointed chief of staff of one of the battalions.
But the major wanted to be at the forefront.
“I can’t sit in a trench, or in a basement, or at headquarters.
There, in front, are my soldiers, how will I leave them?
Alexander says.
The battalion in which Zhukov served strengthened the front line of defense: the military set up permanent posts, and also regularly combed the area to neutralize Ukrainian DRGs - there were many of them in this area.
Once a week, provisions, ammunition and equipment were brought to the front line from the battalion headquarters.
“In those days, we just arrived at the front line to bring ammunition to the guys.
On the way back to headquarters, that battle began, ”recalls Alexander.
Daughter teaches to get off the tank
In October, the major was awarded the Order of Courage, which he considers the merit of his subordinates.
“I have this order thanks to our common actions.
In general, such awards are almost always the result of common efforts, ”the major is sure.
Alexander has not yet had time to celebrate receiving the award with his colleagues: now he needs to undergo a long rehabilitation.
For at least a few months, he will have to walk with a cane and do exercises to regain full mobility of the leg.
The man is sure that when he recovers, he will go back to the front line.
Alexander Zhukov with his wife.
© Photo from personal archive
During the rehabilitation, Alexander is supported by his wife and children.
The eldest daughter knows that dad was wounded during a special operation, and tells her classmates that he received the Order of Courage.
Zhukov's five-year-old daughter does not know all the details.
“She says: “Dad, you probably fell off the tank when you jumped off?”
I say: "Yes, daughter."
She is now teaching me: she climbs onto the sofa and shows me how to get down correctly.
“Like this,” he says, “you need to turn around with your back and gently slide down with your feet.
You can’t jump from a tank, otherwise you’ll break your leg!”
Alexander laughs.
Together with his wife, he tells the children why he is now participating in a special operation.
“We try to explain even to the youngest: we tell that there was the Great Patriotic War and we then fought with the Nazis, we didn’t finish them off, so now we have to fight with them so that our children live well in the future.
I think that all this should be explained from early childhood in order to instill the right values in the child, ”says the interlocutor of RT.