Artem Marchenko, a 41-year-old contract soldier from military unit 73612 (31st separate Airborne Assault Brigade, Ulyanovsk), was wounded in Ukraine in September 2025 and lost leg sensitivity after broken nerves. Despite the fact that he can only move with a cane, he is sent back to the front in early October. His wife told ASTRA about this.
In the photo of the contractor, one of the chevrons of the Wagner PMCs is noticeable — “Blood. Honour. Homeland. Courage” and a chevron with a sniper rifle “I work remotely.” It is known from personal documents that the man has been serving under contract since at least August 2023. It is known from data leaks that Marchenko repeatedly visited the occupied areas of eastern Ukraine since the fall of 2022.
“On September 2, 2025, he was injured. At first he was in a field hospital. He was sent on vacation only in November. His tibial, fibular, and calf nerves are damaged. He underwent surgery at the Vishnevsky Hospital, but he has complete paralysis of his right foot, he does not feel it at all. After rehabilitation. He began to collect information. Passed the medical commision. They put a category “B” with a red seal, but they didn’t dismiss him, although he, well, submitted a report for dismissal. I was on vacation for the summer. He returned to Ulyanovsk. On September 16, he was given a verbal order that he would be sent back to his military unit. October 2nd flight,” said his wife.
She claims that despite the injury, her husband did not receive the required payments. The family contacted the military prosecutor’s office and Putin’s office.
“Last Friday, I received a reply from Putin’s office that they had sent an appeal to the Chief Prosecutor’s Office of the Ministry of Defense. Then we received a message from the prosecutor’s office that they were sending our arguments for verification. Today (September 29 — editor’s note) we received a message from the Samara Prosecutor’s Office that they have sent a request for verification to the Ulyanovsk garrison. It seems that some kind of check has begun in the unit,” the spouse said.
His wife fears that Marchenko will not return from the front.
“He can’t go to the front. He walks with a cane. He won’t even be able to escape from the ”bird”, if anything. He can’t run. His leg does not fully bend at the knee. It would be nice if the hand was injured.… I would have gone without any questions. That’s what he tells me.: “I won’t survive. It’s impossible to survive.” He was told that he would go to the rear when he began to explain to the commander about the leg. And my husband says, “I was there. I know that there are no rear positions there…” They wanted to send him to the assault squad first, but he had already served in intelligence. And they send him back. I’m afraid he won’t come back. They did not say where exactly he was being sent,” the wife of a participant in the Russian military aggression against Ukraine added.
The 31st Airborne Assault Brigade has been involved in the war with Ukraine since 2014. Its fighters tried to capture the Gostomel airfield near Kyiv at the beginning of a full-scale invasion in 2022. In 2025-2026, they are fighting on the southern front. It is clear from Marchenko’s documents that he was wounded by a landmine in the Zaporizhia region.
