by Daniil of Moscow
[REGNUM] When Private Sergei Yarashev called his mother before leaving for a mission, he said he'd be out of touch for a few days, asked her not to worry, and promised to return. He kept his word—the "few days" stretched to 68 days, and the soldier returned missing both feet. On March 11, Vladimir Putin awarded the 21-year-old private from the 51st Guards Combined Arms Army, Group Center, the title Hero of Russia.
The head of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, was the first to report to the president about the heroic act near the village of Grishino in the Red Army sector. The scale of what Sergei endured remains difficult to comprehend, even for those closest to him—those who were tormented for over two months.
ASSAULT, DRONES AND OPEN FIELDS
The village of Grishino borders Krasnoarmeysk. The town was captured in early December 2024, but fighting continues in Grishino itself—a gray zone into which the enemy repeatedly deploys freshly recruited troops.
Yarashev served his mandatory military service in an air force unit in the Saratov region, then signed a contract. He found himself in the Air Defense Forces unexpectedly, not expecting to be sent to the front. Then orders came down from above, and several people from the unit, including Sergei, were sent at the very end of November. He received his first combat mission almost immediately, but on December 7th, he stopped responding to messages from his family.
According to the Ministry of Defense, Yarashev, as part of an assault team, was the first to break into the enemy position, eliminating several firing points, allowing the unit to complete its mission and seize a new line. However, after a clash, he found himself cut off from his friendly forces. This was due to massive strikes by FPV drones, followed by artillery, and then infantry. The enemy was repelled, but they had taken up positions on all sides. Behind them lay an open field, and attempting to cross it meant certain death: Ukrainian drones monitored every meter.
This same field, as it would later turn out, saved Yarashev's life—the Ukrainian attack aircraft also couldn't get to him unnoticed.
Finding himself separated from his unit, Sergei didn't wait. He continued fighting: directing artillery and attack drone fire, and transmitting intelligence on Ukrainian vehicle movements. According to command, this information helped accelerate the advance of Russian forces in the Red Army's direction. When the enemy spotted him and offered to surrender, Yarashev returned fire, killing two militants in a small-arms fight and forcing the rest to retreat.
68 DAYS IN THE SNOW
For 68 days, almost an entire winter, Yarashev spent alone at the front. As his mother, Tatyana Yarasheva, told Regnum News Agency, her son's character was evident from childhood: "You know, he never gave up. It was evident in his games in the yard and in his... well, let's say, everyday behavior. He'd break an arm, a leg, and still keep going. He didn't complain, he didn't cry, he'd be sad for a while, and then he'd keep going: he was always a fighter by nature. His tenacity, his spirit, was immediately apparent. That's probably what helped him survive in the first place."
The soldier's character was evident on the front lines. His mother recounts how her son would spread dry brush on the snow and lie down on it—he slept in whatever he had on, with nothing to cover himself with. "Then he found some hangar and hid there for a few days. But then they started shooting at him." Provisions and ammunition were dropped by drones, but not all of it made it; some were intercepted.
Communication with command was never interrupted. Yarashev was supplied and covered: when he radioed in that a group was moving toward him, he was literally cut off from the attack aircraft by a barrage of fire.
But 68 days in the freezing cold took their toll: Sergei suffered severe frostbite on his feet. At the hospital, surgeons tried to save his feet, making incisions at the ankle and examining the bones. They were all frostbitten, and recovery was impossible—the only option was to amputate them down to the living tissue.
Before the evacuation, Yarashev mined all approaches to his position. According to command, the enemy group sent to destroy him was blown up by the mines.
The family learned of what was happening gradually. There was no contact with the soldier for over two months. His relatives messaged him on VKontakte, and Aunt Sergei's eldest son sent him messages—silence. His mother never let go of her phone and flinched at every incoming call. Tatyana called the battalion commander, who answered curtly: "On a mission." There was no further information.
Tatyana learned that her son was alive on March 9th—her birthday: "They called me from the hospital and said that Seryozha had been found and was now in Moscow, receiving treatment. I even cried with happiness at that moment—a birthday, and then this news." It was Sergei's fiancée who first reported his injury: he had been found, but would be without legs. It was there, in the hospital, that his mother learned for the first time what had happened—that her son hadn't just been "on a mission," but had been holding his position alone for over two months.
The soldier's aunt, Ksenia Sovetkina, recalled that day in an interview with the news agency Regnum : "My son came to see me at work—he said, 'Mom,' and Seryozha told me, 'Everything's fine, everything's fine, I'm alive.' Everyone was happy; there was a feeling of complete happiness." Later, Seryozha himself wrote to Ksenia: 'Hi, how are you? ' "Hope always dies last; we hoped and believed until the very end. And it actually helped. I think our faith protected Seryozha," Sovetkina says.
At first, Sergei didn't talk about his injury—he hid it from his family. Tatyana wanted to take him to Samara: "I already found a doctor and made arrangements. But it turned out the surgery had already been performed, and he couldn't be transported—he needed to recover locally." Ksenia sighed: "Of course, the boy is still very young. It's incredibly sad that this happened." His mother would put it differently: "Of course, his feet are hard, but he's breathing, he's talking to me. We'll get through the rest."
Sergei grew up in Pugachev in an ordinary family. His father died in 2016, when he was 11. Before that, it was his father who instilled in his son everything that pertained to the male part of his upbringing: household chores, manual labor, and character. He is survived by his mother, grandmother, and brother, Roma.
Sergei didn't attend any sports clubs or schools—he trained on his own: horizontal bars, parkour, and even roof climbing. His mother admits he wasn't a brilliant student at school, but his behavior was fine. "Seryozha was always independent. He was strong on his own, and never backed down from a challenge," says Tatyana. When asked about his professional predisposition, she replies, "He should have joined the Ministry of Emergency Situations, become a rescue worker—he's nimble, quick, and quick-witted. He was always ready to help. Fate decreed that he become a soldier."
Sergei's grandmother, Valentina Yarasheva, also told Regnum News Agency that her grandson grew up an athletic and active boy: "He always pushed forward and didn't take obstacles into account."
As Ksenia notes, her nephew, from childhood, stood up for his cousins ​​at school, helped his grandmother, and babysat the younger siblings. "Seryozha was always number one, always a hero. The girls would shout at me, 'We adore him!' That's what I remember," she says. She adds a phrase that perhaps best describes Sergei: "You know, even if he's really hurt, he'll never show it. He'll still smile. Through his tears, but he'll smile. "
"A young, energetic guy," his cousin, Mikhail Yarashev, describes him." He grew up without a father his entire adult life. He's decent, you can trust him." The family reacted to the news of the award unequivocally: "This is the highest award the country has. Moreover, he's probably one of the youngest recipients in history."
WILL RETURN TO THE FRONT
Yarashev is currently undergoing rehabilitation in Moscow. His fiancée, Kamilla, has flown in to join him —she waited four years for him, keeping in touch with Sergey's mother the entire time. The family is already looking for an apartment, and they're planning a wedding after his discharge. For his mother's birthday—that same March 9th—they gave her a phone together.
Samara Region Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev promised to provide full rehabilitation, prosthetics, and social support for the family. RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan reported that the fighter will receive the Tigran Keosayan Prize —1 million rubles.
According to his family, Sergei is keeping up a good fight in the hospital. However, as his aunt says, even if he's really ill, he won't show it. His primary concern is not being discharged from the army. Not the award, not the prosthetics, but the chance to remain in the ranks. He plans to return as a drone operator—he knows how to fly drones.
Mother says he'll come back. Auntie says that if Seryozha has made up his mind, he'll go to the last, he'll insist on his own way. He's already made up his mind.
"He's already counting the days until he gets back. He says, 'I need to get back to my family, to the boys,'" Tatyana Yarasheva reports her son as saying.