Serhii Kernytskyi spent 346 days at a position near Chasiv Yar, killed 23 Russians and took 6 prisoner. He deliberately let them close to 20 meters before throwing a grenade. He has been nominated for the title of Hero of Ukraine — 24th Brigade. Throughout that year Kernytskyi kept a video diary — filming attacks, trophies and daily life on his phone. There was no signal, but the phone worked. Hundreds of short videos survived: a dugout burning after an incendiary device, him counting trophy rifles, frying ribs and cooking soup. Before the army he was a construction worker from Khmelnytskyi Oblast. He mobilized on November 3, 2024. He expected to stay three months, then maybe six. It turned into almost a year. When he asked his commander why they weren't rotating him out, the answer was: there are no people, no one to send. The position was a dugout three by four meters near Chasiv Yar, later named "Kernytska" after him. On the first day a comrade was killed — a shell punched through the ceiling and left a hole one and a half by one and a half meters. His close-combat tactic was simple: let the Russians come within 20-25 meters, meet them with a grenade, finish them off. Shooting through the bushes further back made no sense. Kernytskyi: "So I don't miss. So I have certainty that I will take him down." In winter he stood watch for two hours at a time — by the third his hands froze so badly he couldn't reload his rifle. He packed the dugout walls with sandbags and trophy body armor to stop shrapnel. He ran the wood stove pipes far out through brambles and covered them with branches. He never asked his commander for ammunition, grenades or food — he collected everything from killed enemies. He accumulated 12 trophy AK-12 rifles, a body armor vest, a laser sight, dry rations and cigarettes. At the end of January 2026 he was left alone. First one comrade was killed by an FPV drone. Then the second, who had been with him for nearly a year, died from a shrapnel wound to an artery. Kernytskyi: "In the morning we're laughing, by evening — already the heavenly watch." When drones spotted a group of 8 Russians moving to take the position, he burned the sleeping bags, stripped the trophy rifles and threw the firing pins into the field. He walked out alone in a moonless night, moving like a tortoise — his legs barely held after months of concussions. He could not bring his two fallen comrades out. He covered one lightly with earth. The other remained in the dugout. Kernytskyi: "I cannot justify myself. How do I explain it to their families. How do I look them in the eyes. It is terrifying." He is now in hospital — his legs are not functioning after a year of constant concussive blasts. He never thought about an award and did not expect one. Kernytskyi: "I just wanted to stay alive and see my family. For my family to see me. That was all I had." Author: Tymofiy Mylovanov