Home Front cover PHOTO ESSAYS LIFE FORCE
The magazine of the art-form of the photo-essay “A free, really high quality photo-essay magazine.  Fabulous!” Stephen Fry. British actor, writer and film & documentary maker
August 2015 back issue
Fighting for Ukraine
photographs by Sasha Maslov words by Anastasiia Bereza
Добро – [д о б р о] {n} – [d o b r o] noun – : morally good forces or influences. Воля – [в о л я] {f} – [v o l j a] noun – : A deliberate or fixed desire or intention. The conflict in Eastern Ukraine is unique for many reasons, but one of the most most fascinating aspects of this war is that the main fighting force of the Ukrainian army is made up of so-called Volunteer Battalions. People who serve in these battalions, for the most part, have no army background; they are not used to guns or explosions.  The all come from totally different and wide reaching backgrounds; from cities, from the countryside.  They have differing political views, different genders and are from different age groups, but they are all united by one thing - the very personal nature of this war. This series of images focuses on the people who had the desire – the desire of good will – to go and fight to defend their country.
Tanja Dyka, 22, from Vinnytsya. Vinnytsya field hospital - 59, Svatovo, Luhansk region. I came here after I saw an announcement in the hospital where I worked as a nurse collecting blood samples. It said that volunteers were wanted for a field hospital. At first I thought it would be too hard for me both emotionally and physically. My two years of experience didn’t seem enough for what it would take. However, this idea haunted me during that whole day, and finally I called my mom and told her that I wanted to go. She knew better than to try to talk me out of this decision, and she just told me to have a word with my father. He said nothing except that I must be crazy to leave the comfort of my home. So, the next day I submitted my application, and one day later they sent me a draft notice. I found myself in a military hospital and ten days later they sent me here. That was two months ago. I am very lucky with my parents. They support all my initiatives and never beg me to come back home, as many other parents do. They would always say that they are fully aware that I am here for the sake of the worthy cause. And it’s true. The experience I get here is invaluable, as some of the best doctors of our region are working here. It’s a great honor to work side by side with them in the intensive care department. In my previous job I didn’t really feel that I was needed, whereas now I can see that my skills are required. This seems to be the reason why I wanted to come here and why I don’t want to leave. I thought that I was going to the battlefield with dead bodies and limbs torn off. I thought that I would only get something to eat no more than once a week and call my parents once a month. In fact, it’s almost like a resort. The conditions are certainly far from being comfortable, but bearable enough for the sake of those guys who come here for treatment.
Bes (Demon), from Kyiv. Ukrainian Volunteer Corps Praviy Sektor, military base in Dnipropetrovsk region. My nickname I got when I was in the third grade. My dad then forbade me from fighting with other kids. One day he gave me some money to buy new football cleats.  One of my classmates found out and bunch of kids from my class beat me up and stole my money. When I got back home and said what had happened to my dad he said, “Well, in that case you need to fight back, you’re a man.” So next day I took a piece from a bench - just a wooden leg - and caught them one by one and beat the shit out of each. It was then that I earned my nickname. Then I was involved with football hooligans, first started with Dynamo Kyiv and then joined CSKA Kyiv group. I travelled around a lot and took part in many riots. Interestingly there are a few hools from Russia and Belarus here now fighting on the side of Ukraine because they are against Putin. So those are the people I use to fight against at football games.  Now they are here fighting on the same side with me! My father and I now are also in a real war. He is very disapproving of me being here, he used to be in the Communist party and we have major ideological differences. My mom, on the other side is understanding. She took part in Maidan actively. She was tortured in Brovary by local cops during all those events, barely made it out alive. This war began for me when there were flags from foreign countries being put up on my land. I instantly made my decision. For me Ukraine is one country, without any alternatives. We don’t need EU, we don’t need Russia. You understand, if we win this war we can serve as an example to the whole of Europe.
Mikael, 37, Swedish. Azov battalion, Mariupol. Actually, I came to Ukraine for the sake of Maidan, rather than the war. I was planning to help some young guys from “Sich” organization, who were somehow related to Svoboda party, to fight corruption. I wanted to help Ukraine to change for the better. I don’t mean to say that it’s a bad country. The problem lies in the corrupt government which has long served the Kremlin. However, I was several days late. Maidan was over, followed by the dramatic developments in the Crimea and in the East. So, I decided to stay. It took me a long time to choose a battalion which would have values that are close to mine. I chose Azov in the end, because of its nationalist beliefs, which in my understanding means taking care of people. I came to Ukraine with a personal gun, supposing that I might need it for self-defense. I didn’t expect to find myself in the middle of the war with tanks shooting around. I had had some military experience before – I had been with the Swedish National Guard for a long time before I ended up in the civil engineering business. So, my previous military experience came in handy here. I started to train soldiers in Mariupol, without understanding a single word of either in Russian or Ukrainian. I can now understand a little, but I still can’t speak either language well. After a while you get used to the war and its hardships. Even to the fact that people are being killed, and you simply can’t afford to feel sorry for them, because you have to move on, achieving new goals to make sure that no more people are killed.
Nachkar, from Kyiv region. Aidar battalion, Polovinkino, Luhansk region. There is a saying - if you’re afraid of the wolves don’t go into the forest. But if the wolf comes to you, what else you got to do? We are not alright with the idea that someone grabs our land, tramples our dignity. All we want is for our families, our citizens, to live together in one unified successful and free country. In my opinion if you are a conscious person and someone comes and takes your land away, takes your family away, you have to stand up and defend your family and your territory. I’m just one of many of those people. There is no second option for me. For us cossacks the main value in life - is freedom. And we are not gonna give our freedom away.                                                               Bimba, from Kherson region. Aidar battalion, Polovinkino, Luhansk region. I don’t have family, don’t have kids. Some people have attachments, someone needs to study, or raise kids - those people might need to stay behind. I understood that I needed to be here, I’m more useful here. The scariest part of all of this is when there are coffins lined up right here. We don’t even open them, because inside there is nothing to look at anymore usually. That’s the scariest part.
Yulia, from Zaporizhia. Azov battalion, Urzuf. During Maidan I thought that it was all nonsense, I didn’t really care and tried to stay neutral and level headed. It all changed in February when they shot a bunch of people – something broke inside of me. And then the war started. I visited my boyfriend here at Azov. I just couldn’t stay calm at home. I wasn’t able to do the everyday stuff there when I knew what was going on here.  My friends think I am crazy, but of course they understand.  What surprises me the most about being here is that there are large numbers of smart, well-educated people among the fighters.
Volodymyr, 38, From Lviv region. Aidar battalion, Polovinkino, Luhansk region. I came here from Maidan.  I was there for a while, first was waiting for Presidential elections, then for Parliament elections but then when I understood that nothing was gonna change there, I decided to join Aidar. This battalion was appealing to me because most of the people who serve here came from Maidan; about eighty percent of the soldiers. I had no military experience prior to this.  I had never served in the regular army. First we got here to Polovinkino; trained, shooting targets etc and after that went on operations. So far I’ve taken part in 3 operations. The most frightening thing is to see the dead comrades - that’s very hard. Sometimes you see just burnt ashes.  You can’t even reconise them.  Poetry helps me here. I started writing when I was 17, about love. Then only got back to it when I was at Maidan and I keep it going here. The last one I wrote is called “Let the flowers blossom.”
Olena Bilozerska, from Kyiv. Ukrainian Volunteer Corps Praviy Sektor, Kyiv.  I got tired of idle talks during Maidan. I was there from the first to the last day, but solely as a journalist. During some of the clashes I realized that I didn’t want to remain a mere observer.  All of my friends from the Right Sector knew that we would go to war. So did I of course.
Vyacheslav, 39, from Kharkiv. Donbass battalion, military base in Dnipropetrovsk region. I joined the struggle for Ukraine right after the first shootings on Maidan. I became a member of the most militarized 14th sotnya of Self- Defense. After the victory of Maidan I came back to Kharkiv, my hometown, where things were starting to get rather hot. There I joined the local self-defense unit. Do you remember the episode with a guy badly beaten next to the underground station? He was a friend of mine. In the course of that rally I also received slight concussion. Thank God, I had my helmet on. First I went to the frontline as a volunteer bringing food and other supplies. I was in Slavyansk, Shchastya, and on Karachun mount. I sent my application to the army enlistment office three times. However, despite the good training I received during my military service, they wouldn’t take me because of my previous conviction I had served long ago. But then I felt ill at ease when I saw twenty-year-old girls from Aidar with machine-guns and bullet- proof jackets going to the frontline, whereas I was doing nothing but bringing them cookies. So, I decided to join the actual fight myself. I got enrolled in Kupol subdivision of Donbass battalion. We fought in Artyomosk, Popasna, Kurakhovo, and from there we went to Ilovaysk. They told us to clean up Krasnoarmeysk that had already been taken, but we found ourselves in sheer hell. We spent twenty-four hours circling around Ilovaysk without food or ammunition. The things were pretty bad there… to put it mildly. It looked as if somebody was working against us. That’s why I decided to transfer to the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps. Here they do value their soldiers. The only thing I have received during my service in Donbass is a paper certificate. The fellows who were wounded received 5,000 UAH each. As you can see, it isn’t the material values that I am looking for. I just want my country to be strong and united. I want my son to live in a democracy.
Mykola, from Kyiv, National Guard, Central Military Clinical Hospital, Kyiv. Before I joined the National Guard I was in the 16th sotnya of Maidan Self-Defense. Before the revolution I was just a regular businessman in Kyiv. I am divorced. My daughter is a student at Kyiv-Mohyla academy, and my son is in Suvorov military school. I did my military service where I received good training, and before sending us to the East, they prepared us really well. My battalion was sent to Slavyansk. We all knew what we were fighting for. To protect our homeland. When you are there, you stop being afraid of danger and death. The only thing you dread is treason on the part of your commandment. This is what you are most afraid of. However, I didn’t fight for a long time. I got wounded 29 May, on the same day when the helicopter with general Kulchitsky was shot down. We saw it explode and we all screamed in terror. He was a real battlefield general, whose arrival was much awaited by everybody. He looked like a real officer, smelling of expensive cologne. He would hug us in spite of our sweat and dirt. If all the commanders were like him, we would have won the war a long time ago. When we were removing the bodies we ran across something. When I came round, I couldn’t feel my limbs. It turned out to be a major fracture of a neck-bone. Those five months in hospital proved to be more dreadful than the time spent in the ATO zone. Everything in the battlefield used to be clear and well-organized. I felt that I was needed there and here you just lie in bed as a vegetable only to see new guys being brought in. As soon as I could move and stand up, I started help my ward-mates. I was neither abandoned nor forgotten after I got wounded. The money I used to get during the first period of my service was mere chicken feed, but when I ended up in hospital, they paid me for my battle experience, as well as sick leave and treatment.
Palij, from Kharkiv. Azov battalion, Mariupol. If was after the shooting in Institutska in February that I realized that I could not keep aloof. When the whole situation with the Crimea began, I started to look for some force I could join. There weren’t many options, and Azov turned out to be the most appropriate.
Back to menu
Back to current issue