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How is Lviv after the front? Don’t you feel a certain dissonance?
«Katsapy» [Russians] have the cult of death. If they have war, the mourning is everywhere, while in our country, on the contrary, there is a cult of life. We are fighting for life, for freedom. People understand and remember, but they live: they work, have sex, and so on. Now, we need to do it even more – it must be so. And I’m happy when establishments open, streets are cleaned, people walk, strong, but not ignore air alarms, because it’s a serious thing. It is important that our people live.
How did the war start for you?
I hadn’t slept for three days before the war. We were told: now, now, now... I had everything completely ready and assembled. I monitored the news all night and watched Putin’s speech. He started a long eyeliner and said, «We’re starting a special operation.» «Clouded» at night, I thought: «Is this a war or not a war? Say clearly, asshole!
I live on the outskirts of Kyiv. A few minutes after the speech, I heard the first explosions, the windows began to shake, and I understood everything. We had a contact plan: what to do, where to go and so on. At five o’clock in the morning, I crossed the bridge across the Dnieper.
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For half a day, people did not understand that the war had begun. It seems that most citizens did not watch the news, walked calmly, strolled. It was later that the mini-panic began, people started to leave.
An interesting story with a taxi driver. I was going to the gathering point by taxi, and the driver was so calm, he greeted me relaxed, and then he said, «Something so strange. Usually, taxis are infrequently called so early. What is it today?» I had some cynical feelings. I didn’t want to tell him the way the war started because I thought he would drop me off right away and say he needed to take his family out. So I told him that when we got to our destination.
Then, everything mixed up. I don’t remember the chronology of events very clearly, because there were so many of them. Although we were preparing, there was such a thing as accepting reality.
Tell us how you got hurt.
It’s like in the movie: I fell, regained consciousness, my head was rewound. It was very unexpected. Usually, Russian artillery and «Grads» worked against us.
During this time, I have already learned the sound of what is working: mortars or MLRS. When a mortar or something else works, there’s time to understand what is flying at you, and at least fall to the ground, jump into a trench or hide in a shelter.
The most despicable are their «birds», drones that drop bombs, especially cruise missiles of tactical level «Caliber», «Kinzhal». They are not heard. It is gratifying that this is one of their most expensive missiles, which is already running out. Actually, it was «Caliber» that flew at us. Flash – and everything is gray in front of you. There was no sound before the explosion. The missile flew into a neighboring house, and we were covered with shrapnel, concrete and glass. Everyone there was wounded and two were killed.
To inform our guys, I took out the phone, but could not unlock it for a long time. My face was covered in blood, and Face ID couldn’t recognize me. I also couldn’t remember the password for a long time. The thought flashed through my head: «Am I going to die because I couldn’t unlock my phone?»
However, I succeeded. The guys I got in touch with quickly evacuated us. I used all my first aid kit on myself and my friend. The tourniquets, thank God, were not needed, but the bandages and Israeli bandages were all gone, completely wrapped. I was taken to a military hospital in Kharkiv.
Then, I was treated in Kharkiv and Kyiv. I had multiple head injuries, fractures of the skull, jaw, though minor. But I was still lucky compared to others. The worst thing was that the fragments were taken out of two eyes and the head was sewn up. The stitches have already been removed from the face, but not yet from the eyes, because they have been healing for a long time. Still, thank God, they kept my sight.
In Kharkiv, on the second day, «Grads» stroke at our hospital. Three hits: at the checkpoint, in the yard and on the roof. It was a high-rise building, I was on the sixth floor. In our ward, windows were smashed, cowardly, and two soldiers were killed.
However, there were funny moments. Inside the walls were sockets and switches, which exploded. We were sitting in the corridor, because we had no time to go down yet, the doctor was walking, saw a broken socket and in one fell swoop put it in place, because «everything should be in its place.»
In the military, we try to joke all the time, because it helps to maintain the spirit of protest and not get depressed.
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At that time, the situation in Kharkiv was tense, the «orcs» were already on the outskirts. There were both small arms and mortar battles. Their artillery worked in the city. Every day, something came and it was hard to work. Civilians suffered, houses were destroyed. There is a district in Kharkiv like our Naukova – a suburb of Saltivka. This area was bombed very hard, almost like Mariupol. The battles were mostly ongoing there.
Now, all our guys have consolidated and very well pushed the «orcs» out of the suburbs, out of town. They are no longer able to fire on Kharkiv with their MLRS and mortars – only missiles are fired.
What is the most interesting thing you remember?
The most interesting thing is to look at the weakness of the enemy especially from the sky. We even have a video of their platoon loading onto a tank. It would seem that the contractors are normal regular troops, but they are just incredibly stupid: the tank turns – two fell, the tank starts to go – they shout, the tank stops – they load again, the tank starts to go again – and one falls again. They could be normally «rolled out» while they were being loaded.
But the enemy cannot be underestimated. It is their fault that they underestimated us. The whole world thought that Kyiv would be taken in three days. Here are the «Stingers», «NLAW», «Javelins». This is a light weapon for guerrilla warfare. And there would be somehow, there would be a kind of small «Taliban», the West believed.
But they all just said that we gave the «orcs» a push away near Kyiv. It was a very crucial moment. Even under Sumy. There was just a defence – men, grandfathers with machine guns opened warehouses and gave a lesson to Muscovites. They have the best results in this war in general. They «squeezed» the equipment, burned it. It’s so strong that there are simply no words. I’m really proud of them, I didn’t expect us to give them so much.
However, everyone is working for victory, not only the Armed Forces. Who now provides the rear? Volunteers, people who pass the location of enemy equipment. This is such a national unity, and it’s very strong. This was not the case even in 2013-2014. I repeat, I am very proud of that, it adds serious motivation to fight on.
What else motivated you? Perhaps you, as a Galician, had the experience of participating in pilgrimages?
I passed the Camino de Santiago [St. James’s Way is the most popular pilgrimage route through Europe to the Spanish town of Santiago de Compostela, where the tomb of the Apostle James is]. That was a few years ago. I went and recalled my life. This is such a reflection from the very beginning of life. Nothing distracts you all day, so there is time to think, even talk to God. I ask a question that interests me, God, and I get an answer right away. And one that I would never have thought of myself. It’s like a letter, like a telegram from heaven. I did not expect this at all.
I read something about the Apostle James, talked to travelers and sometimes felt his patronage at the front. Because he is a warlike apostle who was the patron saint of Spanish knights during the Reconquista [from the Spanish Reconquista, «conquest», in 722-1492, the Christian war for the liberation of the Iberian Peninsula from Muslim rule.]
How long have you been at the front?
For us, the intelligence, the front is not the fact that you drove into the trench and sat there for two months. We are in a safe place, we have data, we have the ability to process them, we go on reconnaissance, we have pickups, such «wheelbarrows» as the Makhnovists [followers of Ukrainian anarchist leaders Nestor Makhno]. We go to a certain area where we need to work, and return. We work around the clock, without days off.
I now have the first weekend since the beginning of the Great War and I see that, it turns out, this is how you can live. There is even a sense of guilt, although I understand that this is wrong. Sometimes I bite because my boys are there now. I am still present in all the chat rooms, where they write messages, talk about shelling and losses. It’s difficult. It is difficult now to sit here and drink beer while they are under fire there. But no matter, I’ll be back soon.
It was as if I was lying wrapped up when I was injured. I didn’t know if I had eyes left. It was the hardest in the first hours. All in bandages, I don’t see anything, I don’t have a phone, because everything burned down. There were only briefs and sneakers, which I later sent. Everyone was cut down because everything was covered in blood. I was unconscious, and the guys were on the front line at the time, and no one could see me. It was only later that people started coming to me to take photos. In those pictures, I’m lying like «Grandma’s cake.» Later, they operated on me, pulled out the fragments and sewed me up. And when they were evacuating to Kyiv, I asked: «Well, when back? I’m already normal, I’ve been sewn up, I can go now. « But I was sent to rest for a month. That was an order. I have an official vacation in Lviv, but it’s hard, I want to go back as soon as possible.
I have some time for rehabilitation, and then I’ll be back. Everything is fine with me. My arms and legs are intact, the only thing is that my eyesight has dropped a bit, but it’s not critical, I can continue to perform my duties. During that time, perhaps, in Kharkiv, our guys will clean everything up, and until I am discharged, we will probably go to other directions.
What victories can you name?
I can name small victories in the great war. There is still a lot of work ahead. It may be too early to talk about, but among the victories, first of all, it is preventive. It was not unexpected, panic, questions, what’s next. The command worked very clearly. We knew what to do, we were ready. This is the number one victory that decided the entire course of the war. Then, personal victories – the destruction of enemy equipment, personnel. This is basic.
Now, it is difficult to talk about it, to summarize at all, because the war continues. We will see full results after the victory. Because there are many things we can’t talk about right now. There are things we don’t know about, rejoice and mourn our losses we will then organize remembrance days and so on. Now, it is important to direct all resources to the front.
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For some, the victory is to push the Russians beyond the borders that existed before February 24. For some – to deoccupy Crimea and Donetsk and Luhansk regions, to restore the territorial integrity of Ukraine. And for me, victory is when the Russian Federation falls. It must be understood that we will be under threat as long as Russia exists. Putin will die soon, but it must be understood that his support for Russia’s underdog is more than 80%. This is a huge number of people who really support what is happening in Ukraine. Even if Putin doesn’t, someone else will come and the same things will continue.
Therefore, I repeat, a victory for me personally is when the Russian Federation will disintegrate into smaller parts, when a buffer zone will be created for Ukraine: Bryansk – Kursk – Belgorod – Kuban.
I would like it to end quickly, but unfortunately it will not. There is still a lot of work to be done. And if this happens in my youth, I will be happy.
What is this war for you personally?
It’s already, you could say, me, most of me. It is even a desire, a credo, a lifelong duty – revenge and the triumph of justice. Revenge for every fellow, for every civilian.
If you look at the predictions made by intelligence about the war in three or four months, even six months, they are exactly the same as they are now. Even if you look at the map of the offensive we made a month before the war, it is also identical. The accuracy of our data is the best, because we have been living in it for eight years. A whole generation of military commanders who study in real conditions has already grown up.
American spies, for example, have cool technology, but they don’t have the opportunity to learn from the war. They learn 10 times faster in war than on the training field.
What will you do after the victory?
This is still a long way off. I once dreamed of cycling around the world. Previously, this was impossible because much of Eurasia was occupied by Russia. But after we win and Russia falls apart, I think it will be possible.
How long do you think the war will last?
This phase of the current war can end quickly. Putin will die and reorganization will begin. Troops will be withdrawn, we will regain control over Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions. This can happen from six months to two years.
They failed to make the blitzkrieg as they wanted, and the war of attrition began. It is good that we are supported by heavy weapons, that we have the ability to hold on and even push back the enemy. Although it is very difficult to predict here. This is my maximalist opinion.
Roman Tyshchenko-Lamanskyi, translated by Vitalii Holich
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