Captain Artyom Gronshko, 29 years old, in 2017 graduated from dentistry in Ukraine and started his internship there. At some point he left the internship and immigrated to Israel. It was less than six years ago, in August 2019 he had already enlisted in the army. He met his wife, who serves as a priest in the city of the Behadim, here in Israel two years ago. He has a daughter, one year and four months old.
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Grushenko, the dentist of the Gaza division, closed that black Sabbath at the base of the division’s headquarters in Ra’im. He says that he watched the movie “Golda”, finished watching it and at 6:27 an alarm sounded. “I ran to the safe with only flip-flops and underwear,” he felt that something was wrong, “the alarm lasted more than a few minutes.” After 20 long minutes in hiding, he ran again, this time in the opposite direction to the room. The officer asked to put on a uniform, by virtue of his position as a medical officer. “I took my things and got dressed in a protective suit. Captain Groshenko came to HML to connect with the unusual security situation, “I looked at HML I wanted to understand the situation, what is happening now…”
Within a few moments he realized that there were several breaches in the fence into the territory of the country. Perhaps under the influence of the events of Kippur in the movie he watched just a few minutes before, he understood almost everything quickly. At 8:30 there were already wounded civilians inside the base. The medical officer knew that he had to do everything in his power to save as many people as possible. Groshenko carries a gun with him and decided that he must protect all the soldiers and families who are in HML.
In the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, the first day of the Iron Swords War, Hamas terrorists infiltrated the division’s base. In the camp, a battle took place between the division’s trackers and Hamas’s Az ad-Din al-Qassam battalions, which killed fighters and took some of the soldiers captive. Only after 13 hours of fighting, the IDF regained control of the base. During all these hours, Captain Groshenko stayed at the base, operating, assisting and caring for the wounded with dedication under fire, while terrorists roamed around and looted the base. That day he treated at least 30 Wounded, most of them arrived at the base from the Nova party.
Captain Artyom Groshenko and fighters (photo: Private)
He shares with us further the events of that day: “I left the HML, while running there was shooting, I ran under fire. I arrived at the bureau, where I met the wounded man first. He was already without clothes and there were two fighters there who put a bullet on his leg and both hands.” Groshenko says: “First of all I’m a dentist, but I’m also a fighter.” He understands the situation. “I asked – what is his name? Then I realized that I needed to bring him water. Because he lost a lot of blood, he needs a lot of water. I got to the kitchen on the second floor and brought water, Fuse-T and Coke. He also needs a Coke. Every minute I sat with him, asking him to drink Drink water, drink Fuse-T, drink coke for him to be conscious.” An hour passed and Grushenko goes to the kitchenette, takes everything out of the freezer. “Potato, schnitzel, I brought everything, I brought ice”, to keep the wounded man awake. At that time there was still shooting at the base. “I went up to the second floor and there were about 10-12 people who were slightly injured. I checked, treated, there was also a seriously injured person among them.”
The infiltration of the terrorists into Kibbutz Reim (photo: security cameras)
He admits: “I was shocked. I heard and saw a lot of movies, but I didn’t think I would be in one. Then I realized that I had to take myself in my hands and do something.” He assessed the situation in the chaos, who needed him, who wasn’t injured.
As mentioned, he treated about 30 wounded that day, of which four were seriously wounded. Later it was important for him to keep up to date with their situation. The hospital informed him that one of them had died and the other three were alive. Of all of them, he carries the first seriously wounded with him in his heart. From half past eight that wounded man waited at the base and was only taken to the hospital at four in the afternoon. “It was very difficult,” Grushenko sighed, “I understood what was happening and what it could cause. It was difficult to hold him and talk to him, he was in pain. One of the wounded broke his arm, not a minor fracture, inside the HML another was seriously injured with a fragment sticking out of his hand “.
He had a phone with no reception, only a gun and also medical equipment not so available. “In this situation, I feel I did what I could.” He feels that thanks to his presence at the base at least three souls, who were hanging between life and death – were saved. He also says: “I think that if I had known about October 7 in advance and they would have given me the choice between being at home or being at the base, I would have chosen to be at the base.”
Grushenko’s uniform stained with the blood of the wounded (photo: Private)
He talked with his wife at the beginning of that morning while running to the pool at six thirty with the alarms, “I told her – take the baby, and go to the pool.” A little later, when he realized that there were terrorists inside the base, he told her: “Take water and food, close the door, put a closet and don’t leave until I call, she was in Netivot.” He says that after that day, his wife does not feel safe in Netivot, they moved to another city. Lieutenant Groshenko thinks he will return to Netivot, but in the meantime, it is important to him that his family be where the woman feels safe.
“The people of Israel are alive,” he says, and adds: “In Israel, even a citizen, everyone is a warrior, he fights for our country and I think of telling everyone that people can do more than they think.”