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He amputated his own legs with a knife, held his position alone for a year and a half—and then a drone came to take him away. This was the first rescue of its kind in human history. Imagine a concrete pipe in a contested, near-occupied territory. There were two such pipes; eventually, only one remained. He was left without legs, with no hope that anyone would come for him—and so it went, month after month. Konstantin Vlasenko, from Kryvyi Rih, went to war of his own volition—he had waited a long time for his call-up. He was stationed at a position known as "Vertyun"—a concrete pipe rigged with decoys. He and a comrade-in-arms held the position for months, until one day, his comrade died—on his 50th birthday, February 16th. Konstantin was left alone. The enemy knew he was there. They dropped a canister containing a note: "Surrender; your 'brotherhood' won't save you. A white drone will come to take you home." Konstantin gave a pragmatic reply—the same one famously directed at a Russian warship—and held his ground. Then, his own body began to fail. His left foot was mangled, and his right was severely damaged. His legs began to atrophy. His left foot rotted away on its own. He amputated his own leg—using a knife, resting the limb against a brick. He recalls: "Tears came. I had to cut. So, I cut." He even joked with his commander: "Congratulations to me—no more flat feet, and I don't have to worry about my size 44 shoe size anymore." When the weather warmed, he crawled toward where his legs had once been. And he saw that butterflies were in bloom—orange with black. "I think: God, my legs have produced butterflies, too." This is like something out of Stephen King—and it’s not a metaphor. It was a book by King—*The Outsider*—that his wife had sent him in a parcel. He kept it with him, alongside thoughts of his daughter, Christina. And then, something happened that had never occurred in any war in history. A drone flew in to retrieve him—alive. The operator dropped an instruction manual; the drone landed, secured itself with a carabiner, signaled "all good" and a heart shape to the camera—and took off. He feared only one thing: being captured, or falling into the water—since he didn't know how to swim. Other drones provided cover—one of them was shot down by the enemy. But he made it. 491 days at the front. Two amputated legs. For the first time in history, a drone saved a soldier. And the man himself—who doesn't yet consider himself a hero—says: "I don't like being the first; I’d rather be the second." He is alive. He is back on solid ground. And this story now belongs to eternity—forever.