The war in Russia – Ukraine will soon mark its third anniversary. What is happening in Ukraine, how they live, how they work, how they fight… Prof. Igor Zhaloba, who is a veteran of the war in Ukraine, speaks to FAKTI.
- Prof. Zhaloba, you were on the front in Ukraine, now you live in Kiev. At what stage is the war, how do you view what is happening?
- We have a problem with recruiting people into the army. And here the responsibility is not so much with people who do not want to go to fight. From a human point of view, this is understandable. People understand that by going to the army, they bear their responsibility as volunteers, that anything can happen to them. This is clear. We understand the responsibility that falls on us, we understand that anything can happen to us. There were my brothers in the army who died, others were injured - some less, some more. There were brothers who lost an arm, a leg. For example, this happened to my crew commander. But we understand that if we don't do this, no one will.
- This is understandable, but still this is war. You have an enemy at the front...
- This is one thing. Secondly, we understand that
if we don't go to fight in the Ukrainian army, we will definitely go to the Russian army if Russia takes over Ukraine.
This is a classic. So the choice before us was either to fight for our army and freedom, or they would make us fight for Russia. And this united us people who go to the front. This unification is not being considered in its full extreme now. From my point of view, this is now related to the fact that not only people are tired of the war that has lasted so long, but also to the fact that those changes, in particular in the Ukrainian army, that we expected, have not happened.
I mean that the Ukrainian army cannot defeat the Russian one if we fight the way the Russians fight.
I am talking about the fact that they use multiple assaults, with many people. And for this reason, we had to be much more universal, much more flexible and in these conditions to protect the lives of Ukrainian soldiers as much as possible, because we are a democratic country in which people's lives and freedom are put in the first place. On the other hand, we simply do not have that human resource in the Ukrainian army that Russia has, and we cannot waste it. We cannot afford it.
We have a wonderful Ukrainian army, wonderful brigades, wonderful commanders who can fight, but they cannot always fight the way they want to.
This is how a conflict is created with the older generation, who was brought up in the spirit of the Soviet Union at that time. We know that Alexander Matrosov threw himself into the embrasure because he was obliged to throw himself into the embrasure to stop the machine gun fire. And the other point of view today is whether it would not be good to prepare Matrosov so that he would not have to throw himself into the embrasure, but would have the skills to destroy the machine gun fire, but without having to lose his life.
This moment is present today.
And here comes the role and responsibility of the authorities, which does not always – or in most cases, did not tell its own citizens frankly what was happening.
You know, this wave of populism in politics, which is now visible in Europe, unfortunately, is visible in many democratic countries, and is also noticeable in Ukraine. And in my opinion, it is this populism that is harassing many processes in Ukraine.
- Now you live in Kiev. How does a day go by there, how does life go on...
- Look, a person is such a creature that adapts. We try to lead a normal life in these conditions. Universities work, public transport works, etc. But at the same time we constantly monitor the air raid warning signal, we monitor messages. When the signal sounds, you can go to a bomb shelter, you can go to the subway, you can stay at home, but nowhere do you have a 100% guarantee that a bomb will not fall. I was convinced of this at the front, and now, when I am in Kiev, I see that each person has an individual reaction to this situation. For example, I was 99% calm when I was at the front.
My brothers next to me at the front were amazed that I could sleep under fire. I didn't wake up from the whistling of bullets, I slept peacefully, I rested, so that I could do my job well later.
My commander, for example, who fights fearlessly, could not sleep under fire. He could not rest. The same is true of the residents of Kiev, because I talk to colleagues from work, with acquaintances, with friends. There are people who cannot sleep during the air raid, and such an air raid can last six, seven, eight hours. And people follow the news channels, where what has fallen, listen to what the situation is, etc. And there are people who simply fall asleep, and that's how they recover. Everything is very individual. In principle, at the moment in Kiev, people live and work normally. I want to tell you about something else that is very characteristic of the fighters at the front. Faith in each other, this brotherly bond between us - this bond is very strong. The further you are on the front line, the fewer people you can talk to, because there are only people of business there. You can't imagine it. At such a moment, it doesn't matter what kind of army you are, what rank you have - everyone is one organism, like a taut string, on the same wave, equally tense. I didn't know how people in cities react when something happens. Last year, however, I had the opportunity to see for myself how this mutual aid works in Kiev.
- Life among bombs, is that how you describe it?
- I'll tell you something. The home of our brother, who died in August 2023 and his wife was left alone with two children, was hit by a Russian missile attack. Do you remember when last year a Russian missile strike on Kiev hit a children's hospital, another missile fell in a residential area and our brother's home was damaged. Katya lived there with her two children. One of her children is two years old - Angelina, and the other is Dima Jr., who was born after the death of his father - Dima Sr. Thank God, at the same time as the rocket attack, Katya and her two children were with her parents. And so she was left without a husband and without a home. My commander from the front, who came to Kiev, and I went to her, then she came to Kiev, we helped her. But at that very moment I saw how people in the city work in such situations - there was support from everywhere. State services, from the mayor's office, from various public organizations came. It was nice to watch.
Yes, we have a tragedy, but the person in need is not alone.
They brought water, food, the house began to be repaired. This is life in Kiev today. But even with this awareness of the situation at the moment, we can say that no matter how bad it is in Kiev, it cannot be compared to what is at the front, what our soldiers are experiencing and going through. Cold, frost, and they are in the trenches. And they are doing this so that I can sit in Kiev now, in my apartment, in my comfort, and give you this interview. I know very well what it is, because I went through all this at the front. So the more active part of the people in Kiev clearly understand that whatever problems they have in the city, they are far smaller than what the soldiers at the front are experiencing and overcoming.
To be continued…