Yaroslav Nesterenko, war veteran, former Popasnianskyi Visnyk chief editor and Popasna.City founder, sustained a shrapnel wound to the head from a Russian FPV drone while working near Kupiansk (Kharkiv oblast).

He shared the story with Suspilne for a piece marking the founding anniversary of Popasna, a city in Luhansk oblast that is currently under Russian occupation.

Nesterenko said that the FPV drone had exploded roughly six metres away from him as he was filming a news story on the battlefield.

“I went out there, started filming, and an FPV drone came flying. It went off about six metres away from me. At first I didn’t even realise that shrapnel had hit my head — it’s still in there. Luckily, some soldiers were nearby, and one of them came over and started asking what had happened. When I tried to reply, I noticed my words were losing letters, phrases and words were getting mixed up,” Yaroslav recounted.

His fellow soldiers administered first aid to Nesterenko and evacuated him from the site of the strike.

After treatment and rehabilitation, Yaroslav went back to his family in Cherkasy oblast (Smila). He continues to help servicemembers and veterans, working mostly remotely as chief policy expert for veteran issues at the Popasna City Military Administration.

Who is Yaroslav Nesterenko

Yaroslav Nesterenko worked as chief editor for the newspaper Popasnianskyi Visnyk and the website Popasna.City from 2015 onwards.

After the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he took up volunteer work. In 2022, he evacuated to Smila with his family and set up the website Smila.City.

In an interview with IMI in May 2022, Yaroslav Nesterenko said he had left Popasna on 8 March, once he realised he could no longer work properly there. In August 2023, he recalled that his outlet had organised a fundraiser in March 2022 to cover the burial costs of townspeople killed in Russian shelling.

Nesterenko served with the Prince Roman the Great Mechanised Brigade No. 14 starting in 2023.

In March 2023, he said in an interview with Ukrinform that a piece of shrapnel had lodged in his temple during the strike and remained in his head.

In February 2025, Yaroslav Nesterenko was discharged from the Ukrainian Armed Forces following a severe injury. He was granted war veteran status and assigned category II disability.

In May 2026, he joined the team of the Popasna City Military Administration (also relocated).