Publication author
Legionnaires of the Free World
Warrior “Mechanic” – platoon commander of the II International Legion. He is a Ukrainian who forms the administrative core of a platoon of foreign volunteers. Read about the motivation of your subordinates, the crimes of the Russians and the war in the exclusive blog for the Channel 24 website in direct speech.
Russian war crimes are killing from the inside
Everything started to spin with me from the Maidan. After the end of these events, I had to leave civilian work. I went to the Golden Gate Battalion.
In 2014, they left for the Luhansk airport. Then there were Happiness, Sabovka, Rodakovo, Lenino. In 2015 – Sands. Further Experienced, Donetsk airport. So it pulled me in. As soon as Russia began to enter Ukraine with their, as they say, “rescue” actions, I turned on. I just couldn't sit at home idly by.
Now I teach combat work with machine guns, tactics.
Perhaps the most difficult battles for our unit took place at the end of the last – the beginning of this year in Novogrigorovka and Bakhmut. We faced unprecedented artillery activity by the Russian troops, but demonstrated resilience, initiative and ingenuity.
It is, as always, everywhere at the front. Everything is very hard. Nothing is easy in war. Russians use a lot of those things that cannot be used at all according to international conventions. For example, phosphorus bombs, the same cluster mines. Moreover, they are used as much as possible against civilians.
The war crimes of the Russians against the civilian population are destroying me from the inside. I talked with people in the Chernihiv region, Kharkiv region, in Shchastya and other places where the Russians managed to “distinguish themselves”. I'm already talking about looting. Looting is the least they have done. It is much worse that the Russians just silently killed civilians. Children, women. Rape of children in general does not fit into any framework.
The war “dragged out” the warrior after the Maidan / Photo by Vladimir Patola
Among Russians, only Wagnerites are motivated
The shortest distance to the enemy I had was about half a meter – a meter. I wanted to make it normal for him to surrender, but the occupier started pointing weapons in my direction. So I had to make decisions, react a little earlier. I try not to remember such things and especially not to disclose …
The Russians do not have the proper motivation, because they came to a foreign land. Kadyrovtsy is generally a ridiculous situation, “tiktok troops”. They are promoted a lot, but they are of little use. There are certain groups that can work, but mostly they are hyped actors who stand little on the battlefield. The usual infantry of the Russians is not sufficiently trained, that is, they do not really work.
However, the enemy should not be underestimated either. In 2015, I had to meet with some groups of Russian special forces. They came with rifles “Exhaust”, “Vintorez”, heavy machine guns “Kord”. These worked well.
It cannot be said that all enemy units are weak. Basically, they have nothing to surprise us with. However, one should never write off the fact that rather professional and dangerous individual groups can work behind the backs of representatives of low-skilled mass units. In addition, you need to beware of the meanness of the enemy. The Russians can bypass the wounded, the dead, bypass absolutely everything.
The Russians do not know what they are fighting for. The motivation is only in the Wagnerites – to get exemption from serving a sentence for crimes. They are told to go ahead – they go ahead. What I can say about them is the “meat” that is thrown to the front line.
Why foreigners are fighting in Ukraine
People often ask what motivates foreigners to fight in Ukraine against Russia. If we talk about Belarusians and Georgians, they believe that when they win together with us, they will win at home, they will win for their peoples. So they are motivated and actually very easy to work with.
Representatives of other countries may have different motivations, but we always find a common language. The main thing is that all our brethren understand very well: if the enemy is not stopped here and now, he will go further. It will be much more dangerous for the world than the Third Reich was in its time. Together we try to keep the enemy at this line, and our brethren, who have arrived from different countries, help in every possible way, risking their lives side by side with us.
With a warrior spoke: Vladimir Patola .
