KRAMATORSK, Ukraine -- When Ukrainian soldiers spend months in the field to keep Russian-backed fighters in check, their strength depends on the nourishment they receive.
In the war zone, the Kyiv Post had a chance to taste meals from the ration packs that Ukrainian servicemen consume, both the one produced in Ukraine and its U.S. equivalent sent from America as humanitarian aid.
It was hard to accept the food from soldiers knowing how important good nutrition for them is, but they insisted.
The Ukrainian army ration pack called “Everyday Set of Dry Foods” consists of three portions – breakfast, lunch and dinner – all packed in a large green plastic bag.
The soldiers’ breakfast is supposed to be their biggest daily meal. It includes canned beef stew with barley porridge and Visit brand canned liver pate, two packets of Hike crackers, a stick of instant Lviv-made coffee Halka, and some sugar.
Lunch consists of one can of beef stew, two packets of crackers, and a packet of black tea with sugar. For dinner, the servicemen get a can of beef stew with rice, two packets of crackers, black tea with sugar, and two small portions of honey. The entire ration contains 4,232 calories.
We found the crackers to be rather hard. The meat was a bit greasy, but fresh and without preservatives and flavor enhancers, which are usually used in Ukrainian-made canned stews found in stores. Each meal pack has only one little paper napkin, one wet napkin and no cutlery. Each soldier carries his own set of cutlery.
But the food was okay, natural and nutritious. Unfortunately, the meal pack didn’t include any sweets, only sugar and honey.
It was different with the U.S. ration pack called meals-ready-to-eat, or MRE. It had a big variety of desserts, including a cinnamon oat cookie, a raspberry hot beverage bag, a caramel stick and even a portion of cherry jelly.
One pack contained mashed potatoes with garlic, beef brisket slices, cheese, sour crackers, butter, salt and two sticks of chewing gums. Unlike the Ukrainian ration pack, it had a lot of napkins, iodized salt, a spoon and even a chemical food heater.
It was one of 24 variants of meal packs the U.S. army offers.
To be honest, we found the U.S.-made meal pack too artificial. The beef and potatoes had a very strong odor, but tasted fine, especially for Svitlana, a cat we found in Kramatorsk who finished this meal. The jelly and cheese also had some artificial flavor and resembled fast food. At the same time the cookie, sour crackers and Tootsie Roll toffee were really nice and fresh.
So the Kyiv Post verdict is – the Ukrainian army ration is too monotonous, while the American is too artificial.
The Ukrainian soldiers we found in Kramatorsk said they were “fed up with dry food” and “really want something homemade” for a change.
Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Grytsenko can be reached at [email protected] Kyiv Post photo journalist Anastasia Vlasova and staff writer Vlad Lavrov contributed reporting to this story.
Editor’s Note: Kyiv Post+ is a public service offering special coverage of Russia’s war against Ukraine and the aftermath of the EuroMaidan Revolution. All articles, investigative reports and opinions published under this heading are free for republication during Ukraine’s time of national emergency. Kyiv Post+ is a collaboration of the Kyiv Post newspaper and the affiliated non-profit Media Development Foundation.
