A Unique Story of Human Willpower.

A unique story of human willpower.

Sergey Yagushev is an ordinary Russian guy with a completely extraordinary судьба. He is now a recruit in the Freedom of Russia Legion, but his path to the unit was long and extremely difficult.

Unable to leave Russia through Kazakhstan, Sergey chose the hardest way to get to Ukraine: he signed a contract with the Russian army in order to later cross the front line. He got in touch with the “I Want to Live” project, but because of haste and nerves before making his move, he destroyed the correspondence and reached Ukrainian positions on his own.

On the Ukrainian side, Sergey surrendered to Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen, who knew nothing about his intention to join the Freedom of Russia Legion and acted according to procedure by handing the prisoner of war over to the military police for further transfer to a POW camp. Since Ukraine observes the Geneva Conventions, a Russian serviceman who has received POW status can no longer join units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Thus, without wanting it, Sergey became a prisoner of war.

Sergey spent more than a year in the POW camp. He could have safely sat out the war there until it ended, but he did not abandon his decision to fight against Putin’s regime. In the end, Sergey embarked on a new gamble: to go through a prisoner exchange, return to Russia, and try once again to cross the front line, this time while staying in contact with a coordinator from the “I Want to Live” project. “Fortunately,” in Russia those who return from captivity are sent back to the front almost immediately.

The second time, everything worked out. We managed to evacuate Sergey safely, and he was finally able to join the Freedom of Russia Legion.

This is the story of a man who risked his own life twice for the right to make a conscious choice and oppose Putin’s criminal regime.

Sergey told his story in an interview with the “I Want to Live” project:

➡️ "I Want to Live" chatbot: t.me/kak\sdatsya\bot

The "I Want to Live" project on social media:

😎 FB 🕊 Twitter 📹 YouTube 🥳TikTok🕊Instagram📞Viber 🏢WhatsApp (backup)

YouTube

THE AMAZING STORY OF A VOLUNTEER OF THE "FREEDOM OF RUSSIA" LEGION

On June 20, 2025, Sergey was included in a prisoner exchange after spending a year and a half in Ukrainian captivity. Already on the bus, he told the story of a stolen combine harvester, which racked up millions of views. After that, Sergey ended up in captivity again, this time with the help of “I Want to Live.”…