KHERSON OBLAST, Ukraine -- Amid the boundless steppes in southern Kherson Oblast, a tent camp can be found with a big Ukrainian blue-yellow flag and the words “Zviagel. We will stand for Ukraine until death.”
Zviagel is the historic
name of Novograd Volynsky, a city in Zhytomyr Oblast, from which these hundreds
of soldiers travelled almost 1,000 kilometers to take their places on Ukraine’s
new front line just north of Russian-occupied Crimea.
Their mission is
to repel Russian troops that dare to trespass into the mainland. Until in
Crimea, where Russian troops quickly overran surprised and outnumbered
Ukrainian soldiers, the nation’s political and military leaders have pledged a
fight if Russia invades Ukraine’s mainland.
After Russian
forces invaded Crimea in late February, the Ukrainian army began
moving its units to Kherson Oblast, conducting military exercises in fields.
“I think we have a 70 percent chance to avoid war,” said Oleg Roy, deputy commander on the
motorized military troop residing in camp. “But there is a 30 percent doubt that
diplomacy won’t work.”
By March 26, Russian
flags were hoisted on all of the Ukrainian military bases in Crimea, while
about half of the Ukrainian soldiers there defected to the Russian army,
according to a report by the Ukrainian general staff.
But Roy doesn’t condemn
the defectors. Rather, he is compassionate.
“I believe they are
trapped in a very difficult situation,” Roy said. “What can the people do who
have families living in Crimea? What if, by staying in the Ukrainian army, the
relatives would face repression?”
Initially there
were some 2,500 soldiers in Kherson Oblast near the Crimean border. But their
number has increased several times after the army mobilized its reserve
soldiers.
But Roy’s unit,
who are living in tents that resemble the EuroMaidan Revolution on Kyiv’s
Independence Square, is made up only of contract army personnel.
The camp
includes a field kitchen, a medical tent marked with a Red Cross unit and even a makeshift
church with a large wooden cross adorning the entrance. Some soldiers sleep in the church tent at night, as the local priest comes there only on Sundays.
A simple but
nutritious soldier’s lunch consists of pasta with pieces of pork skin, beetroot
salad, fish preserves and compote. The camp chef cooks only breakfast
while for lunches and dinners he entrusts to women in the nearby villages,
providing them with products for this purpose.
But often the
soldiers don’t have to worry about their daily needs. The local population
supports them overwhelmingly, unlike in Crimea, where people rallied in support
of the Russian invasion.
Villagers bring
these Ukrainian soldiers plenty of food, sanitary items and also collect money.
Some parcels sent to soldiers from locals have inscriptions with children’s
hands “to our defenders.” Roy said the soldiers were pleased to see such an
attitude in Kherson Oblast, which is sometimes viewed as pro-Russian.
Tanks with
little Ukrainian flags hoisted and smiling soldiers looking
out of them. But a sudden order – “action!” – starts them
moving with impressive speed and a frightening buzz, as they kick up clouds of
dust in the field.
Tanks get
followed by infantry fighting vehicles that look like their lighter versions.
Groups of infantry soldiers, machine gunners, mortar men as well as grenade
launchers take their position in the trenches throughout the field.
When the
soldiers in the camp get automatic weapons, Roy asked the Kyiv Post to leave
because “these are battle exercises with live ammunition.” After signal rockets
were used and soldiers started to fire, the scene started resembling a
battlefield.
Suddenly three
civilians approached the tent camp, shaking hands with the soldiers and asking
what kind of help they need. These are the local activists of the Civil Active
of Kherson Oblast as they call themselves. Recently they brought the soldiers
bulletproof vests and other ammunition purchased on the money sent by activists
from Marganets in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
“The people from Marganets found me
via Vkontakte group (Russian equivalent of Facebook),” Yevhen Chebotariov said.
“Apart from several freaks all here are for Ukraine,” he added.
Another man who
came was Volodymyr Yakymenko, a local taxi driver, who temporarily took leave
from his work to assist the army. “We constructed all this,” Yakymenko said,
pointing proudly at the barricades made of white bags with sand inside. Last
night, the guys were also writing the patriotic inscriptions on the walls,
including “Our grandfathers defeated Hitler and we will defeat Putin.”
But at the
moment, the activists came to see lawmaker Oleh Liashko, who recently announced
he was also running for presidency. Liashko’s aides told them that the lawmaker
was planning to visit the army before going to the local villages to meet his
potential electorate.
Soon after, two
military helicopters showed up at the horizon. After they landed raising huge
clouds of dust, Liashko came out from one of them together with a half dozen assistants.
He headed to the tent camp, which made the soldiers to stop the exercises and
listen to him for about 15 minutes. Lishko promised the soldiers to get them
new NATO ammunition. The soldiers replied they would vote for him as president if
he keeps his promises.
Roy didn’t
approach the camp while Liashko was speaking there. Having 28 years of army
experience, including peacekeeping service in Kosovo war conflict, he was
skeptical about any promises given by politicians and disappointed by their
negligence to the army.
“I can’t
understand, why we have so little combat-ready troops?!” Roy said. “Why was our
army being reduced for years and nobody thought that it may bring us in trouble
like this one?”
The Ukrainian army
shrunk by more than five times over the last 20 years, from 780,000 in 1991 to
some 140,000 in 2012.
Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Grytsenko can be reached
at [email protected]
Editor’s Note: This article has been produced with support from the project www.mymedia.org.ua, financially supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, and implemented by a joint venture between NIRAS and BBC Media Action.The content in this article may not necessarily reflect the views of the Danish government, NIRAS and BBC Action Media.
