Brave Ukrainian soldier who was filmed surviving grenade vows to keep fighting Putin's forces 

A brave Ukrainian soldier who was caught on camera storming a Russian trench and surviving a grenade blast near the city of Bakhmut has vowed to keep fighting Putin's forces.

Sergeant Stanislav, a 22-year-old soldier known as Stas, was blasted off his feet on Wednesday. The moment was captured on a helmet camera.

In the clip, a Russian soldier throws a grenade as he is cornered by the Ukrainian fighters, before the shrapnel tears through Stas's hand.

Speaking to The Sun on Sunday, still wearing his bloodstained trousers, Stas said: 'I’m not a hero. I didn’t do anything heroic. If I die I will be a hero.'

He added that the only reason the war has been contained to Ukraine is 'because we are standing here and fighting here'.

In the clip, a Russian soldier throws a hand grenade as he is cornered by the Ukrainian fighters, before the shrapnel tears through Stas's hand

Sergeant Stanislav, a 22-year-old known as Stas, was blasted off his feet on Wednesday. The moment was captured on a helmet camera

'People in Europe need to know this war is very close,' he added. 

This was Stas's third time being injured while fighting in Bakhmut, the 'destroyed' city he described as a 'meat-grinder'. 

But the fighter says he will continue to fight there to preserve other parts of Ukraine. 

'We have to keep fighting in Bakhmut, even though it is totally destroyed, because if not there, then where?'

He added: 'Russia never stopped in a territory where it had a chance to keep advancing.' 

The helmet footage shows Stas fall back in pain after the blast. His hand then comes into shot, gushing with blood.

Stas's comrade runs out of ammo so he throws him his loaded rifle.

His comrade then charges at the bunker shooting, giving Stas time to dash into an open trench to find a medic.

Stas wants to go back to his job on the frontline as soon as he is fit, but admitted he is scared.

'Of course I am afraid, everyone is,' he said. 'But fear makes us better, it makes us sharper than our enemy, and it helps us to stay alive.'

The battle of Bakhmut has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of troops, with almost every building destroyed.

Stas fled his home of Henichesk last year when it was captured by Russia on the first day of the invasion.

Stuffing his military papers in his shoe, he drove through 14 Russian checkpoints. 

He joined the 24th Aidar Battalion and was deployed to Bakhmut last summer - where he was shot in the backside on August 24 and hit by mortar shrapnel in March 10.

As his hand continues to bleed, Stas's comrade runs out of ammo so he throws him his loaded rifle

The helmet footage shows Stas fall back in pain after the blast then his hand comes into shot, gushing with blood

He said on arrival in Bakhmut the city was 'in bloom, with electricity, internet, open shops' but in his time there he has seen it 'absolutely destroyed'. 

However, Stas insists the ruin is 'absolutely worth it'.

Stas arrived in Bakhmut last year, just as Russia's Wagner Group came to support Putin's forces. 

It comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed today that Russia has taken control of the city after the bloody eight-month battle by the Wagner private army. 

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner private army, has now said his troops will leave the city on Thursday and hand it over to the Russian military. 

'Until May 25, we will completely inspect it, create the necessary defense lines and hand it over to the military so that they can continue to work, and we ourselves will go to field camps,' he said.

The Wagner group was heaped with praise by Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose forces have been targeting Bakhmut for eight months, CNN reports.

Mr Zelensky said he thought Ukraine had lost the city, but added: 'You have to understand that there is nothing. They [the Russians] destroyed everything.'

'For today, Bakhmut is only in our hearts,' he said. 'There is nothing in this place.'