Slobozhanskyi counter-offensive (2022)

On 6–7 September 2022, the battalion conducted successful offensive and assault operations on the occupiers' positions along the line: Shchurivka – Nova Husarivka – Bairak and established full control over these settlements of the Kharkiv Oblast and the approaches to them.^[1][7][8]

On 8 September 2022, a decision was made to continue offensive operations on the Balakliia – Savyntsi front, where enemy units were cut off from the main forces and logistics supply lines.^[1][7] During the battle of Balakliia, Commander Malakhov was wounded twice in the leg and once in the thigh.^[5]

He personally led the assault group of the Dyke Pole battalion, which successfully crossed the Siverskyi Donets River and liberated the village of Vilkhuvatka. After the assault group gained a foothold on the outskirts of the village, the occupiers brought in reserves and engaged the Ukrainian unit. In direct contact with the enemy, Captain Andriy Malakhov received a bullet wound, but together with his men, he inflicted significant losses on the enemy and forced them to retreat.^[7][8] Captain Andriy Malakhov received his pseudonym from the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi, who was impressed by the military's ability to conduct operations in the occupied territory while remaining invisible.^[1]