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When Yaroslav Simchuk volunteered to join the National Guard he had only one condition: his twin brother Volodymyr must be near him at all times. The 32-year-old natives of Ternopil in western Ukraine signed on for the war in October. They've been assigned to the same unit.

The Simchuk twins became local celebrities after Hromadske.tv made a video about the brothers guarding a checkpoint near the city of Shchastya in Luhansk Oblast. The brothers sent wishes to their wives – also a pair of twins.

The Kyiv Post met the unusual family in their home in Ternopil, when the Simchuk brothers were home for leave.
Yaroslav and Volodymyr, named in honor of the medieval Kyivan Rus princes, live in a two-room apartment in Ternopil with their wives, twins Nadiya and Liubov Simchuk, and two children. Soon the family will grow even bigger as both wives are pregnant.

While their husbands serve the country together, their wives work as nurses in local hospitals.
The two couples met on a double date and had a double wedding. The brothers joke that they distinguish their wives by their breast size.

Before volunteering to defend the nation against Russia’s war, the brothers were officers of Sokil, a special police unit fighting organized crime. Before that, they served in the notorious Berkut riot police unit.
They were sent to Luhansk Oblast in December.

“We just wanted to know if it really was like what we see in the news,” recalls Volodymyr.

In reality, it was worse. With their law enforcement background, the Simchuks were ready for the hostilities, but were astonished by the behavior and reactions of the local civilians in Luhansk Oblast. One of the local villagers asked them if people in western Ukraine are cannibals.

The men went on a scheduled leave in late January, and now waiting for orders.

The Simchuk wives supported their husbands’ decision to go to war, but decided not to tell their children the truth while they were away.

The twins were distinguished by their choice of ribbon colors on their guns: blue for Volodymyr, and yellow for Yaroslav. The brothers like to joke that NATO has taught the Ukrainian military how to clone the soldiers, and they are the first batch.

Kyiv Post staff writer Yuliana Romanyshyn can be reached at [email protected].