STANYTSIA LUHANSKA, Ukraine -- The commander of a military unit, who goes by the name Vympel, shows the iron cage for the worst "avatars," the nickname for heavy-drinking soldiers.
It came from the bluish skin color of an alcoholic — the same as of the heroes of James Cameron’s popular science fiction “Avatar.”
Vympel, the commander of a military unit in Stanytsia Luhanska, looks at the cage for “avatars” at his redoubt on Dec. 5. (c) Anastasia Vlasova
Vympel’s battalion is located just miles from the territory controlled by Russian troops and their separatist proxies, struggles with mass alcoholism just like the rest of the Ukrainian army. The problem has become more visible since the tentative ceasefire reached by the second Minsk deal in February.
When the open hostilities are infrequent, some soldiers start drinking just out of boredom.
Vympel remembers how two soldiers of his unit were so deadly drunk last year that they missed the retreat of their forces and got trapped by separatists. The separatists captured one of them and left the other one as he was both too heavy and too drunk to move.
Drinking often brings tragic consequences.
The ensign of the military unit in Stanytsia Luhanska shows the garage where “avatars” are kept. (c) Anastasia Vlasova
In mid-November, a drunk Ukrainian soldier shot dead three other soldiers before being shot dead himself, military journalist Yury Butusov wrote on his Facebook page. In late March, a drunk soldier drove his armored vehicle on a pavement, killing an eight-year-old girl in Donetsk Oblast’s Kostiantynivka.
As of October, the number of non-combat related losses in the army since the beginning of the war was almost 600 people, according to the General Staff. They include suicides, accidents, murders and security breaches. Officially, every sixth case of them is alcohol-related.
“When they are drunk the soldiers may try to hang, shoot themselves, cut their veins. The worst is that they are armed,” said Oksana Chorna, a soldier-paramedic of 28th brigade, who dealt many times with alcohol-related casualties. Once a drunk soldier lost his arm and leg cut off by a train after he fell asleep on the rails, Chorna remembers.
Soldiers, who were drinking the previous night, are staying at the garage as a punishment for drinking while on service in a military redoubt in Stanytsia Luhanska. (c) Anastasia Vlasova
The officers admit in private conversations that the number of drunk-related deaths has increased by several times since the ceasefire. “Alcoholism and land mines are now the biggest problems for the soldiers,” said Petro Bilyan, press officer of the 128th brigade.
The bars and restaurants in the cities of the war-torn Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts often have the announcements: “We are not selling alcohol to soldiers” or “People with guns are not allowed in.”
In March, the Ministry of Defense issued a long and detailed brochure on how to detect and cope with the alcoholics in the army. The commanders may order to stop paying a salary for the drinking soldiers. In the most notorious cases, the soldiers may end up with criminal charges for disobedience to their commanders.
But the military commanders on the spot developed their methods of punishment for drinking, which include cold, isolation and heavy work.
Soldiers, who were drinking the previous night, are looking out of the garage where they are staying as a punishment for drinking while on service in a military redoubt in Stanytsia Luhanska. (c) Anastasia Vlasova
Vympel said that just several hours of standing still alone in a vertical cage outside in cold Donbas winter makes many to take pity for violation of the army discipline. He orders to place the less malicious boozers to sleep in a dirty barn, next to a pig.
In the other military base also located in Stanytsia Luhanska, the soldiers caught up drinking are forced to live in a garage and construct a pigsty.
When seeing a photographer the detained drunks swiftly turned their backs begging: “Please don’t take our photos.” They don’t want their families to know.
A military chaplain, Father Oleh, who didn’t give his last name for safety reasons, is the one in charge of looking after the boozy soldiers. He remembers the case when he had to placate a drunk soldier, who came into the chapel brandishing with the two knives in his hands in Krasnohorivka of Donetsk Oblast.
In Stanytsia Luhanska, Father Oleh often has to take the bottles with vodka away from the soldiers, survey the construction of pigsty by the troublemakers, and perform the special anti-drinking prayers. He believes the tough discipline measures may bring the alcoholics back on track.
“The excessive pity sometimes only harm,” he said.
Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Grytsenko can be reached at [email protected]
