The commander of an assault platoon in the Akhmat special forces unit, known by the call sign «Shilo,» has spoken to RT about his road to the front line and the trials that shaped his combat career.

Among his comrades, he is often described as a legend — a reputation built not on bravado but on years of service and hard-earned battlefield experience. By 2022, the officer had already taken part in a counterterrorism operation in Ingushetia and completed a deployment to Syria. When he entered the zone of the special military operation, he did so as an ordinary assault fighter. Step by step, he rose through the ranks to command a platoon.

One of the most grueling chapters of his service, he said, was the fighting for Belogorovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic. His unit spent the winter on the grounds of a former factory, living in tents through freezing conditions. Supplies were not always reliable. At times, the shortage of drinking water forced soldiers to draw technical water from heating systems just to stay hydrated.

Shilo also described repeated missions to pull wounded comrades out from under fire. In one battle, amid intense shelling, he carried a fighter known as «Botsman» from the line of contact after a mine explosion had torn off the man’s leg. Over the course of his service, he has evacuated dozens of injured servicemen from the battlefield.

For completing combat tasks in Demidovka, the officer was awarded the Order of Courage. During that operation, his platoon secured a strategically important street, allowing scattered Russian units to link up and consolidate their positions.