Weltschau

This is an article about the sketches of a soldier about how cities in the Donetsk region defended themselves: Zaitseve and Horlivka.

Dolar, also known as Bucks, formerly a simple soldier and now a senior sergeant, told the story about loyal comrades Lyokha, Til, and Kolya, as well as the attack on Horlivka, where the Russians took cover with a gas pipe.

2018 year. Zaitseve Donetsk region.

“Til and Lyokha”. Photo author: Military Armed Forces.

Photo author: the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

I took him (a dog nicknamed Lyokha) to fight with me in Zaitsevo when he was only a puppy of three months. I returned from the war, but he didn’t. He was still adjusting to the explosions. And Colin is a dog, Til… He was ready for anything, but as soon as they started shooting, he got very scared and started to run away.

And how I lost my Lyokha. Two months later, the police brought him to my home in Zaitsev. I didn’t even know about it. I was in mortars. The house next to us was completely filled with mines to the ceiling. And if they got there, they would kill us all. And that puppy she got from Kolya, Lyokha’s friend, was red-haired and had a short tail…

Lyokha was better. He rushed into battle. He always went ahead of us. But as soon as the fight began, the dog began to have hysterics. He was scared, and he ran away as soon as he heard the click of the shutter. Lyokha already knew that this sound would do no good.

2018 year. Gorlovka Donetsk region.

My first fight. In 2018, our task was to maintain our position. We were constantly stormed by divergence. She covered herself with a gas pipe. It was impossible to shoot at it or even in its direction, because if you shoot there, then the whole of Horlivka will run out of gas. They shoot at us, and we can open fire only with small arms —automatic weapons, machine guns— and nothing else. They buried their positions right under the gas pipes. Specially.

And you know how scary it was when I came under fire for the first time… They hit me with machine guns, my Sich. It was 650 meters away from 0. Our task was to meet the DRG (sabotage-reconnaissance group). I was 20 years old then. When they fired machine guns with a thermal imager, I was praying to God. Simply raising your head results in instant death. And you understand that if it touches your head even a little bit, that’s all… You’ve been killed.

Yarik was then killed. He was 19 years old. The old man, Khoma, blew himself up on a mine. We shared one suhpai (meals for military). Everything was shared! Even when Svarshchik fell into an oak landing, when we left Sichi, there was a rotation, and we were hit with machine guns from three sides. You have no idea what it’s like to be shot at by machine guns from three sides when trees break and fall in front of you. How scary it was. And when you run, you get short of breath. When such a state occurs in your soul that you just want to save yourself, you just fall into a pit. But there is Svarshchik, Vladik… He is absolutely not my friend. He says, “That’s it; I’m not going anywhere! Leave me!” And you approach him and shout, “Go! Because I will shoot you right here! We have to get out of here! Otherwise, we will lie down here with you.” And everything is tearing around you… The earth is torn apart. You know that there is a hole 30 meters away that you can jump into to catch your breath. However, you still have to drag the welder along with you. You’re wearing a bulletproof vest, a helmet, and a machine gun. You leave Sichi, which is under fire from machine gunners and snipers.

They didn’t touch us at first, but as soon as we changed. All of us were children aged 19–20 who wanted to play cards with their friends in the evening. And here, you have to kill. And when they come after you, they understand that Sarshchik abandoned you. He ran away. He does not know what to do, because he could not shoot a living person. And they all go with white armbands. How terrible it is to shoot a person at the age of 20! And you understand: if you don’t shoot him, he will shoot you. He will not spare you…

After that, it was no longer scary to kill. You understand that it should be this way.

Our hell has been here for 10 years already… It got stronger, but we are still here…