Oleksiy on the frontline of Ukraine: Even bomb blasts, missiles and bullets could not stop, postman Oleksiy is delivering letters and parcels to the border.

No one knows when a missile will fall from the sky. Amidst such danger, 37-year-old postman Oleksiy Klochkovsky goes out with his truck every day. They are not soldiers, but drivers of the private postal service ‘Nova Postha’. For the last four years, they have been delivering parcels to those areas where even the army sometimes avoids going. Three of his trucks have been burnt in Russian attacks, but the smile on his face is still intact. Oleksiy does not listen to music while driving a truck. He has earphones in his right ear only for phone calls, while his left ear is always kept open. He says, ‘It is important to hear the sound of the drone.’ Last summer, his life was saved because of this caution. He heard the sound of the drone and immediately stopped the truck. A few seconds later the drone exploded in front of them. He says that if music had been playing at that time, he might not have been alive. Oleksiy gets about 450 dollars (about 38 thousand rupees) every month, but he does not consider it just a job. There is always a trauma kit kept near the door of his truck, which contains medicines to stop bleeding and painkillers. It feels scary, but it’s impossible to stop. The stress of the constant bombing has broken Oleksiy several times. Last year he suffered a mild stroke, but returned to work as soon as he was released from the hospital. They say, ‘We are not made of steel, everyone feels afraid. But if I don’t do it, maybe no one else will either. Driving is my life. Whenever sirens echo in the air, the first thing Oleksiy does is call his elderly mother. Mother has now become used to it. He knows that his son is at a place where there is only a ‘truck’ distance between life and death. Postman Oleksiy became a ‘lifeline’ for people in the midst of war. When shops are closed and life comes to a standstill in war-ravaged areas, the branches of Nova Postha become the only place of hope. Since 2022, 16 employees of the company have been killed in the line of duty and more than 400 offices have been destroyed. Still, people come here to collect parcels, charge their phones and tell their families that they are still alive.



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