A Ukrainian soldier has been praised for saving the life of a stabbing victim during a trip to Venice.
Yanis Tereshchenko, a 32-year-old teacher who enlisted in the Ukrainian army’s third assault brigade immediately after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, was on his way to his hotel with his wife and his five-year-old son in the Rialto district when he witnessed an altercation between two young men.
Suddenly, one of them drew out a large knife and stabbed the other in the arm and leg.
“Fortunately, I had my emergency kit with me, the one I’ve carried since the war began, even though my wife always tells me to leave it at home,” Tereshchenko told Corriere del Veneto. “I saw a deep wound on his thigh and pulled out a tourniquet to stem the bleeding. He lost consciousness and was haemorrhaging. I tried to bring him back to life.”
Doctors later said that Tereshchenko’s intervention was very fortunate. The victim was losing blood rapidly, and without the soldier’s prompt action, he might have died. Tereshchenko did his best to keep him conscious until the ambulance arrived.
“I don’t know if he would have survived,” Tereshchenko said. “People were confused, and no one knew what to do. Sadly, I have seen so much during the war that I had no doubt about the need to intervene.”
Venice’s mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, met Tereshchenko and his family personally to thank him and present him with a plaque.
The identities of the victim and the assailant, as well as the motivation behind the attack, remain unclear.
