\u201cHonestly, I think I\u2019m at the end of my service. After this contract, that\u2019s it. I\u2019m done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those are the weary words of a 39-year-old Queenslander who has spent over two years in the crucible of the world\u2019s deadliest current battlefield. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s a conflict fast becoming defined by its mix of World War I-style trench warfare and dystopian hi-tech brutality; A war where footage of unmanned attack drones stalking human soldiers like prey through frozen fields floods social media feeds, and a war where survival is often measured in minutes rather than days.<\/p>\n
Now, Casey Gadaleta from Caboolture near Brisbane, better known by his call sign \u201cDundee\u201d, has had enough. <\/p>\n
During the course of his war, Mr Gadaleta has survived a landmine blast, lost his leg, returned to the battlefield and risen to a command role. <\/p>\n
He has witnessed close friends die, including fellow Australian Samuel Pedrazzini, and says the psychological toll of this new era of war is now becoming impossible to ignore.<\/p>\n
News.com.au sat down with Mr Gadaleta in the safety of a quiet farming town several hours outside of Kyiv. <\/p>\n
\u201cI just think \u2018no more\u2019,\u201d Mr Gadaleta said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy issues from combat are becoming more apparent now, I think my service is over.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018I lost my leg twice\u2019<\/p>\n
Mr Gadaleta first arrived in Ukraine in May 2024, where he signed a contract to join the Ukrainian army.<\/p>\n
A standard contract is three years, but foreigners are able to cancel at a minimum of the six-month mark. <\/p>\n
Base pay is 23,000 Ukrainian hryvnias a month (about $721); in combat, it\u2019s supposed to be at least 120,000 hryvnias a month (about $3764), but soldiers regularly report payment issues.<\/p>\n
Mr Gadaleta\u2019s life changed forever on December 8, 2024, when he stepped on an antipersonnel mine during a mission into Russia\u2019s Kursk region.<\/p>\n
His six-man unit was approaching a Russian position through deep snow when the mine filled with shrapnel exploded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t even see the mine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was remotely detonated; they saw us coming, and I was on point. It destroyed my leg and my hand.\u201d<\/p>\n
A firefight erupted as Russian forces advanced on the position.<\/p>\n
Mr Gadaleta, who had medical training, said he was left for hours without proper treatment, using tourniquets to stem his own bleeding.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m begging them, I\u2019m breaking down,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI shouted, \u2018I\u2019m gonna die, I\u2019m gonna freeze to death. I\u2019m bleeding so much\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he spent about 20 hours fighting freezing conditions during the incident before eventually being extracted.<\/p>\n
His lower leg remained attached, but the damage was catastrophic.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe leg was still attached for three weeks, but it was destroyed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
After returning to Ukraine, he underwent treatment and eventually had the limb amputated.<\/p>\n
But losing his leg was not the end of Mr Gadaleta\u2019s war.<\/p>\n
Just five months after leaving hospital, he returned to the battlefield with a prosthetic leg.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went back to Zaporizhzhia, and within two and a half minutes, I broke my leg again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
It was not a mine or bullet that caused the injury.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just got stuck in the mud while clearing a blind spot,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy friend was going \u2018Ruski, Ruski\u2019 I turned my body and broke the leg.\u201d<\/p>\n
The injury became infected and eventually required further surgery and a higher amputation.<\/p>\n
He has not returned to frontline assault operations since.<\/p>\n
Instead, he now commands soldiers while helping recruit and manage experienced fighters.<\/p>\n
He says he misses combat.<\/p>\n
\u2018I think my mental health is finished\u2019<\/p>\n
Mr Gadaleta says his reasons for coming to Ukraine have not changed; what has changed is his ability to keep going.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think my mental health is finished,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though I\u2019m not in assault anymore, I still command assault guys.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had guys in my brigade die recently \u2014 one died, one lost both legs, another lost a leg and a hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeeing my men and brothers dying makes me think I need a break.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he had recently stayed awake for five days during a mission, and, while on another stretch, he got just two hours of sleep across three days.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m tired,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m just angry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Gadaleta said noises like car engines revving put him on edge and he recently smashed up a room after someone set off a training grenade inside.<\/p>\n
His decision totake a step back from the war has also been complicated by the deaths of men he considered close friends.<\/p>\n
Australian volunteer Samuel Pedrazzini, 26, from NSW\u2019s Northern Rivers, was killed in a Russian ambush on June 13 this year.<\/p>\n
Mr Gadaleta said the pair had spent time together in Lviv.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was my boy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe died, and I didn\u2019t get to go to the funeral because I was on a mission. It\u2019s really hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Gadaleta said another friend, a Brazilian named De La Cruz, had also recently been killed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just lost three guys \u2014 two casualties and one died just now in Kramatorsk,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI lost my good friend De La Cruz as well.\u201d <\/p>\n
Mr Gadaleta said De La Cruz was the only one who carried him out of the trench when he injured his leg the second time.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy himself! No help from anyone! Then carried me to the evacuation point. While I was in hospital getting my second amputation, he was cut in half by artillery. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was very hard to deal with.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018I don\u2019t hate them\u2019: Fighter\u2019s dramatic change<\/p>\n
Despite everything he has seen, Mr Gadaleta says his attitude towards Russian soldiers has changed dramatically.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first it was about killing as many as possible. But now it\u2019s more about, \u2018Can we get these guys and swap them over for our guys?\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t hate them. I want them to go home and put their weapons down.\u201d<\/p>\n
He recalled one encounter with a young Russian soldier that continues to haunt him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI shot a 19-year-old in the face once,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was smoking a cigarette with no helmet.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe looked at me, and I stood on a rock \u2014 that stays with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Gadaleta said the psychological impact of war had less to do with his own injuries, but rather with watching other soldiers suffer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the trauma of combat isn\u2019t even about you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about watching your friends or your brigade get destroyed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy biggest regret was thinking I could handle it.\u201d<\/p>\n
A history-making Australian<\/p>\n
It is believed Mr Gadaleta is the first documented case of an Australian soldier engaged in combat and injured inside Russian territory in the modern era.<\/p>\n
His unit was involved in fighting Russian and North Korean forces during operations in Kursk.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were stuck in Russia for 20 hours,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I think coming back was the proudest moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
His return to the battlefield after losing his leg was itself a remarkable decision.<\/p>\n
Mr Gadaleta had originally travelled to Ukraine after becoming horrified by reports of alleged Russian atrocities against civilians.<\/p>\n
He had no previous military experience before volunteering, undergoing intensive training with the Ukrainian Armed Forces before being deployed.<\/p>\n
By the time he was wounded, he had spent months learning the realities of frontline combat.<\/p>\n
After returning to Ukraine following his first recovery, he was promoted into a command position because of his experience.<\/p>\n
He says the Ukrainian military remains desperately short of experienced personnel.<\/p>\n
\u201cTraining people takes time, resources and money,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m valuable based on my training and experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood people are hard to come by.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since the visit in early August, Mr Gadaleta has decided to return home.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmerican or Australian soldiers don\u2019t stay in combat all the time; they have rotation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve spent long enough in combat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pay Issues<\/p>\n
Mr Gadaleta also cited administrative issues with the Ukrainian army as a contributing factor in his ultimate decision to resign.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve only ever been paid properly three times. This is why I sold my property in SA because I couldn\u2019t afford to live in between missions. We have to pay for our own rent, food and equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Soldier pay issues have plagued the Ukrainian army in recent years; money from foreign aid makes up a huge part of financing war efforts but is legally unable to go directly to paying soldiers, meaning the money must be found internally within the Ukrainian budget.<\/p>\n
Mr Gadaleta said some soldiers on missions lasting between 30 and 60 days were receiving a base pay of about 23,000 hryvnias, when they should be receiving about 200,000 hryvnias ($A6200) according to army contract stipulations.<\/p>\n
He also claimed some soldiers were sent to battle without the required training or experience.<\/p>\n
For a man who less than a year ago returned to war just months after losing his leg, the prospect of finally stepping away is clearly complicated.<\/p>\n
He admits there is still an internal battle.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was in the hospital here for three months and at home for another couple, all I wanted to do was come back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is an internal struggle, but I think it\u2019s almost over.\u201d<\/p>\n
His prosthetic socket is now causing problems, and his body is giving him another reason to stop.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy stump shrinks, so it\u2019s not stable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
But after years of fighting, losing friends and losing part of himself, the thing he wants most is not another mission; it\u2019s a beach.<\/p>\n
\u201cI miss Australia,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Mr Gadaleta has returned to Brisbane after some internal disputes led to his resignation, and although he hasn\u2019t yet decided whether it will be for good, his plans are remarkably simple.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeach, 100 per cent,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll go to Bribie Island because I used to live there. Me and my brother are going to Noosa. My friends from home are meeting me there, and we\u2019re just going to chill.\u201d<\/p>\n
And for now, after everything he has survived, Mr Gadaleta says he believes it may finally be time to come home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so tired,\u201d he said. \u201cI just want to relax.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cHonestly, I think I\u2019m at the end of my service. After this contract, that\u2019s it. I\u2019m done.\u201d 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