Published: Less than 10 minutes ago
The grenades rained down on the small village in the Donetsk region.
Edvard and Tobias Pluto had the task of resisting a Russian offensive.
When the artillery fire ended, Tobias realized that Edvard had not survived.
– I thought he was a person I would know for the rest of my life, but that did not happen.
It was at the end of May that Tobias Engqvist, 25, met the officer Edvard Selander Patrignani, 28, for the first time.
Then they joined the same military unit in Ukraine. After that, they lived side by side every day. When Tobias tells about Edvard, it is the everyday moments in the war that he thinks about the most.
When they ate food together, trained for battle and talked to each other in the evenings.
When asked how close the two young men got to each other, Tobias answers:
– I wish we had gotten much closer to each other. He had a big heart and was a person I thought I would know for the rest of my life, but that did not happen.
Be prepared for seizures
Aftonbladet has been in contact with Edvard’s family who at the moment do not have the strength to talk about the tragedy that has befallen them. Instead, they want Tobias to tell them what happened to Edvard.
The platoon to which they both belonged was tasked with pushing back Russian forces in the event of a surprise attack at the front. Late last week came the soldiers to a small village in the Luhansk region from which they would be based.
The village that lies out in the country was utterly desolate. The civilian population had long since left.
– We arrived early in the morning just over a week ago. Edvard and I belonged to different groups and we took shelter in different food cellars that functioned as bunkers. There we sat ready – 24 hours a day.
“We pulled forward in the thicket”
Early in the morning of July 18, the platoon thought they would be replaced. Instead, they were told that it was time to get ready for a Russian attack.
Tobias says that the soldiers received reports that Russian soldiers had dug themselves down and planned an attack on Ukrainian paratroopers in the area.
– We left the food cellar and pulled forward in the thicket along the road. I was one of those who went to the front while Edvard was one of those who was at the back of the line.
Then everything went very fast.
Both grenade launchers and armored vehicles had set their sights on them. And the artillery fire never ended.
– We threw ourselves into a bush. My group then made the decision to seek protection in the nearest food cellar. But Edvard was too far away to have time to take protection from the artillery fire, Tobias says.
The roar of the grenades never ended
The food cellar shook and the roar never seemed to end. Once the fire stopped, Tobias heard someone calling for paramedics.
– And to take care of the wounded is my task. I was the platoon’s paramedic. Actually, you should wait at least 20 minutes after the ceasefire before going out. But I could not wait. It was my best friends who were out there, says Tobias.
When Tobias came out, it turned out that everyone in Edvard’s group had made it. But soon after, the grenades started raining again.
Tobias, 25, was in the small village with Edvard when Russian forces attacked. Photo: Private
Tobias ran through the giant cloud of dust that formed after the explosions and he managed to get down into a food cellar again. He could do nothing but prepare for the very worst.
The next time Tobias came out, he saw that four soldiers had been killed – one of them was Edward. By that time, the village had turned into a gray landscape of ash.
– He was killed by a grenade from an armored car when he and his group tried to take care of a wounded comrade, Tobias says and continues.
– It says a lot about who he was as a person. He refused to abandon his comrade.
“Left a big void”
It was only when Tobias returned to the company a few kilometers from the village that thoughts began to spin.
– Edvard left a big void behind. Many of us looked up to him. He was probably the best officer I’ve ever met. Both proper and professional at the same time as he was relaxed and playful.
After the incident, the soldiers at the company held a memorial ceremony for the four people who were killed in the village.
– We have set aside a room where we lit candles to honor those who died. There are the personal belongings of the fallen soldiers and parts of the equipment they were wearing during the attack.
– Edvard was one of my closest friends in the company. I have prayed an extra long prayer for him, says Tobias Engqvist.