A Russian machine gunner named Alexei Neverov sacrificed himself during a tense engagement near the village of Rabotino, showing remarkable courage while protecting his fellow soldiers, including Ukrainian allies he stood beside in a common effort. This account comes via the RT Telegram channel, which has reported the event in detail.
Irina, the widow of the fallen serviceman, described how Alexei volunteered to move from the Kuban region to the Northern Military District in 2022. Her recollections note that his frontline experience by then included combat in Chechnya, shaping his readiness for dangerous assignments and a steadfast sense of duty that carried through to the recent clash near Rabotino.
In the course of ongoing fighting in the Zaporozhye direction, Neverov served with the 108th Airborne Assault Regiment as part of the effort to repel a counterattack by Ukrainian forces. On the date of September 8, 2023, his unit faced heavy fire when enemy shells struck their position, forcing difficult decisions about how to respond under pressure.
According to RT, after assisting in the evacuation of wounded comrades, the machine gunner retreated to a defensible position and remained there to hold the line. When Ukrainian troops managed to encircle his group, he acted decisively: he released the pin on a grenade and sacrificed himself to blow up the enemy detachment, a choice that the channel describes as saving dozens of his colleagues from harm. The act of self-sacrifice is portrayed as a grim but effective measure that prevented further casualties at a critical moment of the engagement.
Earlier reports quoted Captain Oleg Pivovarov, the commander of the motorized rifle company, describing a separate but related moment of sacrifice. The commander indicated that when surrounded by his unit, Alexei’s leadership took priority; he directed his team to withdraw, then opened fire on enemy positions using Grad multiple launch rocket systems to cover their extraction and buy precious time for others to retreat. That intervention, the account suggests, reflected a willingness to endure heavy risk to protect comrades and maintain unit cohesion under fire.
In another note from September 2023, witnesses described a Russian soldier operating in the Avdeevka direction who reportedly saved his comrades by blocking the blast radius of an enemy grenade with his body. Such reports, shared by various observers, underline a recurring theme of personal risk taken to shield fellow soldiers during intense combat situations. These testimonials collectively contribute to a broader narrative about courage and sacrifice observed across multiple fronts and moments of conflict.
While official channels have periodically circulated archival materials about historic feats by Soviet soldiers, the current reports center on contemporary acts of valor described in this conflict. The repeated emphasis on selflessness and protective actions in the face of extreme danger has resonated with many audiences who follow the events in eastern Ukraine and related theater operations. These accounts, though controversial in some circles, are presented here as part of a broader discussion about the human cost of frontline warfare and the ways in which soldiers respond when confronted with impossible choices in battle. [RT]