March 14, our country celebrates the Day of the Ukrainian Volunteer. Facts ICTV spoke with Kirill Danilchenko, who is now serving in the 14th separate mechanized brigade in the Kupyansky district and the surrounding area. Back in 2014, he volunteered to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine and is still defending our state from Russian aggression.
Why I decided to volunteer
— Please tell us why you decided to become a volunteer?
— Back in 2014, he became a volunteer. This happened immediately after the Maidan. At that time, there was a rather specific attitude towards the events that took place in Ukraine, and to be honest, I thought that what happened in February 2022 should have happened back in March 2014. That's why I decided that I needed to defend the country.
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— How did your family react to this?
— The family was very scared. The main concern was from my mother, because I am her only son, and she, to put it mildly, did not support my decision.
Her attitude hasn’t changed much now, she’s still worried. For her, the social aspect always comes second after the interpersonal and family aspects. Therefore, it is very difficult for her and she is worried.
How I joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2022
— Aerial reconnaissance — did you choose this direction for yourself or were you sent there?
— It was a coincidence of certain factors. I can start with exactly how I joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2022. The fact is that I started serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine only at the end of April, and before that I was part of the Volunteer Formation of the Territorial Community (VTFO).
I joined aerial reconnaissance in the 45th Special Operations Brigade, and then transferred to the 14th Brigade of Prince Roman the Great. And the unit in which I am now — This is a company of attack unmanned aerial systems.
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Photo: Kirill Danilchenko
Accordingly, I joined the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the fact that I would have to serve in the ranks of communications, but during my studies, during training at a military base, the head of aerial reconnaissance recruited staff in order to form an aerial reconnaissance department for the newly created battalion. Accordingly, because I heard about this offer, I wrote a resume, spoke about my previous experience, and I was accepted into this unit.
In fact, job responsibilities and the position a person holds are not always identical. For example, the entire aerial reconnaissance department in the first battalion, in which I was in 2022, was an ordinary rifle department, because at that time there were no separate positions and staff for aerial reconnaissance. Therefore, formally we were shooters: some were drivers, others were grenade launchers. I was a marksman.
What aerial reconnaissance does
— What is your job?
— In aerial reconnaissance, as in all Armed Forces, there are many roles and tasks. There are people who directly carry out combat missions, and there is support. What I do is more about support. Regarding what the division does in general, on the one hand — control of the battlefield, constant information about what is happening on the contact line 24/7. This is if we are talking about tactical aerial reconnaissance, which uses mainly quadcopters with a short range of up to 10-12, maximum 13 km.
Photo: Kirill Danilchenko
This is the first task, that is, reconnaissance, information, streams, which directly go to the command post and thanks to which troops are controlled and direct tactical decisions are made decisions. Second — this is dealing fire damage to the enemy.As of now, drones have actually taken over a significant portion of fire damage in cases where it is impractical or impossible to use other means of destruction.
For example, there are situations when drones are used to repel assaults due to the fact that it is impossible to use canned artillery, mortars due to the fact that their own personnel are close, which makes them in a difficult situation, and you need to calm the enemy with something “”.
What did you do before the war
— Please tell us what you did before the war?
— By education I am a graduate of the Kiev-Mohyla Academy, Master of Philosophy. But as often happens, I have never worked as a philosopher.
He started his career on television. It was the First National Channel of Ukrainian Television. After that, I worked for a long time in an international public organization, after that I went into IT and before conscription, before starting my service in 2022, I worked as a software tester in an international IT company. This is a company that made its own very interesting system associated with very popular training machines.
— Are IT skills useful in your work now?
— No. The question is that the Armed Forces are very large, and now I’m talking with a former colleague, and he says that there is a position in the Armed Forces of Ukraine for front-end developers. And I was like: Yeah, in principle, there are positions for front-end developers, but there is a small nuance that there are not so many of these positions. The most popular position now — this is a shooter.
Were there life-and-death situations
— Do you believe in God and have you had life-and-death situations?
— No, I don't believe in God. Let's just say that there were very subtle moments when everything could have happened, but this is concentration, this is an attempt to squeeze the maximum out of the situation so that this does not happen. This, of course, is attention, dexterity, ingenuity, quick reaction.
— Were there any moments during these two years when you gave up? How you dealt with it?
— In principle, a good option — this is to communicate with a good person, read something, if possible, be in silence, sleep well. The full-scale operation lasts more than two years, and accordingly, a very significant part of the personnel is, to put it mildly, in an exhausted state. Because, if we take the period from 2014 to the beginning of 2022, then the service life for non-contract mobilization soldiers was one year. A person entered the Armed Forces of Ukraine, he knows that after exactly 12 months he says daddy and returns home.
— Now additional difficulties are added by the fact that people do not have an understanding of the remaining service life, and this also creates a certain psychological pressure due to the fact that there is no end date. The man just goes on and on and on and on and it turns into Groundhog Day.
How to prepare for service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine
— Advice to people who want to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but have doubts or are afraid?
— If you are very afraid, try to do something about it, you can do some practices in order to prepare yourself in some way. If you realize that you are simply in doubt, then study the situation, because it is a very uncomfortable situation — this is when you get to the Armed Forces of Ukraine in: a). unprepared state; b). to a place where there is no use for the skills that you directly already have at the moment.
That is, if a person is a specialist in his field, if he does this job perfectly and he clearly knows that there are places in the Armed Forces of Ukraine where he could apply his skills, but instead he does something else, everyone loses from this. Because, relatively speaking, instead of a qualified specialist being engaged in the construction of a second or third line of fortification, he may be given tasks that do not correspond to his strengths.
Photo: Kirill Danilchenko
It is clear that training — this is cool, but there is a nuance. Now we have average age of military personnel 35+, and of course, you can teach an old dog new tricks, but there are limits. That is, if you understand that you are over 45-50, then join the stormtroopers — this is not a good idea.
If you know how to do something very well with your hands, you have some kind of applied specialty in civilian life, it’s better to find out, look for acquaintances, look for vacancies using the new recruiting system in order to do what what you can do. This is relative to the specialty.
Regarding additional preparation— do physical training if you think that during your training someone will teach you something physically — this is a very big mistake, because, unfortunately, it is impossible to get in good physical shape in two months. It can be restored, but if you have never run before, then start running at least three months before you get to the training. Also, do general exercise, train your endurance, eat well, quit bad habits and prepare yourself mentally.
What is the relation to the law on mobilization
— What does this have to do with the new law on mobilization and demobilization of conscripts?
— In our country, conscript service was not the largest segment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the nuance is that those guys who went into conscript service did so under specific conditions “this is the service period, after which you will be demobilized”. The question is that there is no retroactive force of the law, and if they were called up according to the law according to which they were supposed to be demobilized, then it would be very desirable to demobilize them that way.
After this, they are enrolled in the reserve, and after that they can be re-mobilized after a certain period. But demobilization must take place. The question in general that I raised is that now the personnel do not have an understanding of service periods and also many experts say that it would be very desirable make it clear to active military personnel regarding the duration of service.
It is clear that this depends on the intensity and effectiveness of the mobilization process, because without mobilization there is no demobilization. But this is a common problem that needs to be addressed, and a number of observers say that it would be a very good idea to start making unpopular decisions to close the mobilization issue.
