This article is a true story, the real story of a man who serves with me in the same battalion. I must warn you that this will not be an easy article to read, as it touches on some difficult topics. But it is all true, and this truth should not be hidden; it must be accepted and something must be done about it.
For confidentiality reasons, I will change this person’s name; let’s call him Victor. I had the opportunity to talk to Victor about life in a calm and friendly atmosphere, like a brother to a brother.
Victor told me that he was a volunteer who joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the very beginning of the full-scale invasion. He said that at that time he was filled with patriotism and a desire to protect his loved ones and relatives. But then, in further conversation, I heard from him that now nothing remains of that patriotism.
I became curious about what had happened in his life that caused his patriotism to disappear. So I asked Victor, “When a person says they are a patriot, that’s one thing, but when a person is literally ready to die for that patriotism and voluntarily goes to war, that’s true patriotism. What could have caused this patriotism to disappear?“ Victor was genuinely surprised and, looking at me, asked, ”Do you really not understand, or are you making fun of me?!” I sincerely said that I did not know what could have caused such patriotism to disappear, and said that I was curious to find out. Victor said that there were many reasons, but during our conversation he could only remember four.
The first reason was that commanders did not value people. Victor said that when he went to war, he was ready to die, but he was ready to die for something important and worthwhile, for something that was worth it. But in reality, he said he saw that most of the deaths were stupid and senseless. That people were dying simply because there was no artillery support, or because they were sent on a stupid, ill-conceived assault that was doomed to failure. The deaths he saw were stupid and senseless. There was no heroism or anything like that. There was stupidity and senselessness.
The second reason is that Victor is upset by what he sees. Namely, that his acquaintances who fled abroad at the beginning are doing well there and are not bothered by anything. Victor says that we must either go together and fight, or else flee. Victor says that at the beginning there were queues at the military registration offices, and this gave hope that we would win. Now there is nothing like that.
The third reason is the lack of a time frame. It is unknown when all this will end. Victor admitted that at the beginning, he and those who went with him thought that it would all be over in a few months. “Either we’ll beat them, or we’ll die, but it won’t last more than a few months.” “Of course, everyone understood how big Russia’s army is, but when I saw so many volunteers, I felt hopeful that we could fight back. And we did fight back! But then something went wrong…” No one thought this war would last more than three years. And now it is unclear when it will all end.
The fourth reason is corruption, take, for example, eggs purchased at 17 hryvnia (when the real price at the time was 4-5 hryvnia per piece). Seeing this, you don’t understand whether the aid we are given is actually reaching its intended destination.
Regarding the last point (corruption), I asked Victor in surprise, “Didn’t you see this before?” Victor said that of course he had seen it, but why was there some kind of hope that now everything could change, that now we would all get together and be able to change everything. That in such a difficult situation, we could unite and make a turnaround and change in our consciousness, that this was an opportunity to make a new beginning. And seeing the determination of the people at the beginning, there was a belief that it could be done.
Those who have been reading my blog for a long time know that I am not the kind of person who wants to say that everything is bad and hopeless. I think we have to accept all this truth and think about what can be done about it. What can we do to win and achieve the desired lasting peace?
Write your comments. But please don’t write something like, “I’ll tell you even more, in fact, everything is even worse, there is no hope.” I believe there is hope. We need to honestly accept the problems we have and think about how to fix them.
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