Australian fighting in Ukraine begs for medical evacuation after losing lower leg in landmine explosion

An Australian soldier fighting for the Ukraine Army is pleading with the Federal Government to bring him home - after he stepped on a landmine which ripped apart his foot and hand.

Casey Gadaleta, 38, was fighting in Kursk, Russia, when his unit came across a position manned by both Russian and North Korean troops.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Australian soldier nearly killed fighting in Ukraine pleading for help to come home.

It’s believed to be the first time an Australian fighter has been injured on Russian territory.

Gadaleta is a former Brisbane steelworker with a criminal history. He says he volunteered for the Ukrainian Armed Forces as a way to make good.

In an exclusive interview from his hospital bed in Kyiv, Gadaleta told 7NEWS he is in a race to get home.

He says delays and the poor medical treatment available in Ukraine meant his lower left leg has had to be amputated due to necrosis.

He is now desperate for a medevac flight to get home to try and save his hand – but his plea to the Dept of Foreign Affairs and Trade has gone unanswered.

“I need bone grafts, tendon grafts, multiple surgeries. Then there’s the rehab,” he said.

“I haven’t heard from DFAT, they haven’t given any assistance. The Australian Embassy in Poland said they’d call back in a couple of days, but never did.”

Gadaleta is a volunteer soldier with the Ukraine Armed Forces serving with the 80th Brigade. He’d been deployed only four months.

His call sign is “Dundee” – after Crocodile Dundee.

On December 8, his six-man unit was on a mission in Kursk - across Ukraine’s border deep into Russian territory. He says they were targeting a position defended by both Russian and North Korean troops.

But as he approached through deep snow, he triggered the anti-personnel mine.

“Literally like one step and there’s this bright light and I thought our guys accidentally dropped a grenade on me. I thought these guys just hit me by accident,” he said.

“At first, I didn’t feel anything.”

“Someone yelled out are you alright? and I said ‘bro my leg’s gone. He said what? I said bro it’s gone’.”

A firefight began and the Russians advanced on his position. When he tried to grab his weapon, he realised his hand was in pieces.

But Gadaleta’s calls for help went unanswered. He was told he had to use his medical training and fend for himself, using tourniquets to stem the bleeding.

“I’m begging them, I’m breaking down. I shouted, ‘I’m gonna die, I’m gonna freeze to death. I’m bleeding so much’.”

He said he went 20 hours without first aid, or pain relief, sitting in minus 4 degrees and soaked in blood.

“I honestly thought, yeah, I’m gonna die.”

He was finally taken back into Ukraine and hospitalised in Kyiv. But he claims a three-week wait for surgery cost him his lower leg.

“My leg died, it basically turned to a black colour. They had to amputate,” he said.

He also has shrapnel in his arm and his face.

Gadaleta has a Bachelor of Science and two diplomas but made the decision to volunteer for the Ukraine Armed Forces after friends sent him photos and details of Russian war crimes.

“I was disgusted with it and I thought, how can a human being do that to another human being?”

“And I just thought, ‘I want to give my life to this cause’.”

“I wasn’t naive about it. I knew that with all the casualties it wasn’t a matter of if, but when I was injured.”

The former Sunshine Coast man also has a long criminal history. He was convicted of assault and sentenced to 13 months in 2021. Nine years earlier, he was charged but cleared of attempted murder.

He says his decision to volunteer for Ukraine was his way of making good.

“I sacrificed my body, and I was willing to sacrifice my life,” he said.

“I paid my own way here. I paid for my rent and food. I sold my investment property to cover it all.”

He argues that the Australian Government has spent over a billion dollars on bushmasters, tanks and aid for Ukraine - his medevac home would be a drop in the bucket.

“As you would see by my injuries, I would think that I could get a flight home you know, just a medevac.”

And despite the ordeal, he plans to return to the frontline once his treatment is finished.

“It hasn’t changed my attitude. I’m coming back as soon as my prosthetic is on.”