00:00.0
00:05.0
Immodest question - How old are You? -Oi, Seventy One.
00:05.1
00:08.1
We're gonna smack these jerks(ukr.goats). Let's do it!
00:08.2
00:10.4
And You are a mortar crewmate? - Yes.
00:15.4
00:23.2
Until I have some health.. until I can still carry a gun/machine gun... Who will defend us if not ourselves?
00:26.9
00:31.5
My nickname is "Grandpa", we're currently in Donetsk Oblast(District)
00:31.6
00:35.8
Tell us please how did full-scale Russian Invasion start for you personally.
00:35.9
00:46.2
Oh, it started quite interesting. On 21st of February our commander took us directly from the trenches.
00:46.3
00:52.6
He told us:"Guys, you're coming to Avdiivka - you're going to be taught how to work with NLAW"
00:52.7
00:57.5
English NLAWs got delivered so you will be taught how to strike those tanks.
00:57.6
01:07.7
We rode to Avdiivka.. 22-23 Feb we were taught, we completed the exam, or how do you call it.
01:07.8
01:12.6
And we were told that on 24th we're going to proving grounds.
01:12.7
01:20.8
So we went to the proving grounds... On the 24th at 0420 we had been shelled by artillery and this invasion, this war has begun.
01:20.9
01:26.0
We were there for 2 days.. we were prepairing/gathering.
01:26.1
01:31.5
Commander took us and brought to Pisky.
01:31.6
01:37.2
Have you expected at all that the full-scale war will start?
01:37.3
01:43.7
Frankly speaking, we didnt believe in it, but we were waiting, anticipating, we were preparing
01:43.8
01:52.4
We knew they were going to "crawl" in. They were not surrounding us with their armed forces from all sides for no reason...So
01:52.5
01:57.3
I'll talk for myself - I felt they are going push through.
01:58.8
02:02.2
And they pushed, crawled in.
02:04.2
02:12.3
Can you recall, do you remember those feelings/emotions when many of Ukr. men panicked, someone fleed abroad
02:12.4
02:17.0
What were your first thoughts, what to do next?
02:17.3
02:21.8
First thoughts were to stand our ground until death
02:21.9
02:26.7
Frankly speaking the mood was very bad... very bad
02:27.1
02:34.5
Because the communication was missing for us there - on the frontlines. Only if we looked up something on the Internet.
02:34.6
02:39.0
We knew already that they're "crawling up" to Kyiv
02:39.1
02:44.2
The first week was the hardest, we were waiting whether they manage to take Kyiv or not
02:44.3
02:51.6
When they got beaten up in Kyiv, it started getting easier, loosen up
02:51.7
02:58.9
Very "hard", bad mood it was in the first week, probably two weeks, but then... Yeah
02:59.0
03:06.7
We started slowly beating them up, and so it goes. And now the mood is normal - smacking those parasites.
03:06.8
03:12.8
Yeah...So, it was quite hard at the begining.
03:12.9
03:20.9
Tell us please, the battle for Pisky was one of the most massive, hardest battles.
03:21.0
03:28.5
Can you recall when did first combat skirmishes begin in Pisky?
03:28.6
03:35.0
They started instantly when we arrived, nothing to say really.
03:35.1
03:39.9
We came to Pisky and fighting already begun.
03:40.8
03:50.0
What forces Russians had been using against Ukrainian Army and volunteer fighters?
03:50.1
03:58.5
What forces?.. Heavy machinery, we got shelled by tanks, mortars, artillery.
03:58.6
04:05.6
They got an audacity to scatter us with Phosphorus, cluster bombs.
04:05.7
04:13.1
In what unit you were in while being in Pisky, where you opposed russian occupants?
04:13.2
04:18.0
Separate subdivision named "Santa"
04:18.1
04:26.8
We were supporting our infantry, our boys, we covered them with our mortars.
04:26.9
04:30.9
So you are a mortarman? - Yes.
04:31.0
04:35.8
On what targets you had a chance to work on with mortars?
04:35.9
04:40.7
In general, on their infantry as they were crawling, they were crawling like locusts swarm.
04:40.8
04:43.9
So we covered our boys.
04:44.0
04:48.8
We had drones, they still are.
04:48.9
04:53.7
So we have aerial reconnaissance, not much but it's still present.
04:53.8
04:58.6
Thus we shelled them in a good way ;)
04:58.7
05:03.5
Immodest question - How old are You? -Oi, Seventy One.
05:04.5
05:08.9
You're seventy one? And you're a mortarman? -Yes.
05:09.2
05:17.1
Most of us, most of us younger folks have a lot of sores, bunch of health issues
05:17.2
05:23.6
How do you manage... Tell us the key to success so at 71 years of age you're still fighting as a mortarman.
05:24.4
05:30.1
Well, actually, I was engaged in sports for my entire life, almost.
05:30.2
05:38.1
I had climbed mountains. Therefore, there's some health for me probably.
05:38.2
05:48.6
Had you had bad habits? You're seventy one and you had to pick up mortar shells. Did you smoke, or drink in the past?
05:48.7
05:53.0
Cigarettes I smoke, that's a problem - I cannot quit.
05:53.1
05:58.4
I already quited five times, the most i managed to withstand was only 1 month.
05:58.5
06:03.6
Here, as long as I'm here, for sixth year already on Donbas.
06:03.7
06:12.6
I've been everywhere here. Starting from Shyrokino, from Mariupol to Toretsk.
06:12.7
06:19.0
So i don't know. Habits...habits...i cannot quit smoking
06:19.1
06:24.5
I'd give anything to quit, I've been smoking for 38 years already, i cannot quit no more.
06:24.6
06:33.9
What does younger men say, when they see literall Grandpa among them?
06:34.0
06:38.8
Which should have been retired and enjoying life but not in trenches.
06:38.9
06:44.5
My unit's brother in arms do not say anything, but when i meet other divisions' fighters
06:44.6
06:51.0
The first question, they look at me and say: "You're still here? Why the hell are you here?"
06:51.1
06:57.0
Yeah! At first, I was nervous about it, but now I am already used to it.
06:57.1
07:03.0
Until I have some health.. until I can still carry a gun/machine gun... I'll be here
07:03.7
07:08.5
You're even shooting from a machine gun? -Yes, that's my favourite barrel! "PoKeMon"
07:08.6
07:13.4
PKM (Modernized Kalashinkov Machine-gun) a.k.a PoKeMon. Did you shoot with a Pokemon?-Yes.
07:13.5
07:17.0
Do you have to use it often? -Recently, no
07:17.1
07:23.2
But...sometime...in winter (2022 apparently)
07:23.3
07:31.5
So, for how long... in order to not fool you... For 4 months i've been blasting from PKM from the trenches.
07:31.6
07:34.7
Yeap, that was a deal.
07:34.8
07:42.5
But, after these hard fights, after mortar shellings, do you feel fatigued and how do you manage it?
07:42.6
07:48.3
We already somewhat used to it. We were shelled non-stop in Pisky.
07:48.4
07:52.9
I, when we went out of Pisky, after half a year,
07:53.0
08:00.5
Commander released us one by one for a week/10 days so we can rest, recover a bit
08:00.6
08:07.8
So i went home for a while. It was quite interesting, for the first night i couldn't sleep
08:07.9
08:13.0
Because it was silent... Because of silence i couldn't sleep
08:13.1
08:18.2
Not because of "booming" but because of silence i coulnd't sleep in the first night
08:18.3
08:21.0
Yeah, even that happened.
08:21.1
08:28.0
And were exactly "Home" is? Which regions? -Home is were Ukraine is
08:28.1
08:36.0
Western Ukraine. They're calling us "Banderivets" for a reason, don't they? We are Banderivets.
08:36.1
08:40.0
You told me that you are already six years here, six years on the frontlines. -Yes.
08:41.5
08:46.7
Why did you go on the frontline? - Well, obviously -I'm a Man!
08:46.8
08:54.0
You have to defend the country, of course. Enemy attacked, you see what genocide they're executing
08:54.1
09:01.0
They're destoying us as a nation. No way, we won't allow them to do that.
09:01.1
09:06.6
But why the youth doesn't go - I don't know. There are wonderful boys here with us - 18y, 20y old.
09:06.7
09:12.2
They're fighting... And those are chilling, fleeing back to Poland, I don't know.
09:12.3
09:17.1
I don't want to say anything here, everyone chooses his path by himself.
09:17.2
09:26.6
While I still have some health, while I can still lift the sandbag with the boys - I will remain here.
09:26.7
09:30.6
Until we get rid of this scumbags.
09:30.7
09:35.7
Who were you before the war, your civil profession? -I was already a retired man
09:35.8
09:41.3
I was an engineer. -So for enirety of life you were working as an engineer?
09:43.6
09:48.4
How did you decide - "That's all - i'm going to the frontline"?
09:48.5
09:53.3
How-how? - Was it a radical decision or you had some second thoughts? -No.
09:53.4
09:59.8
No, I hadn't had any second thoughts. No, no overthinking, nothing even.
09:59.9
10:06.9
You have to defend... who will defend us if not ourselves?
10:07.0
10:11.8
We are such a nation, we fight those Moskovites for our whole life.
10:11.9
10:15.5
So... It is what it is.
10:15.6
10:23.0
Who had "sprouted" such an attitude in you? I mean not everybody, unfortunately, has the same upbringing as you do
10:23.1
10:30.0
There are people who simply do not care. Who planted this "seed" of thought, that you have to fight for your country?
10:30.1
10:36.0
Was it parental upbringing or you somehow managed to conclude this opinion by yourself?
10:36.1
10:39.4
My father was an officer of Soviet Army.
10:39.5
10:43.9
I spent all of my childhood in the quarters when I was a kid.
10:44.0
10:48.8
In their barracks, quarters, i ate at their diners when i was still small.
10:48.9
10:57.6
And... i don't know who made me this way, father i suppose, probably.
10:57.7
11:02.5
I lived with them (russians) in one country before.
11:02.6
11:06.9
Youth doesn't know, but i lived in USSR.
11:07.0
11:11.8
I was a Pioneer (USSR youth organization)and all of that stuff.
11:11.9
11:16.7
But when those bastards came to occupy us... Did we hurt them somehow to behave so?
11:19.4
11:25.8
I had so many friends in russia. Since 2014, i don't speak to any of them
11:25.9
11:29.6
because they were saying "We're not there" ("It's not us") That's all.
11:29.7
11:33.3
I don't communicate with anyone.
11:33.4
11:38.2
But when they started "crawling in" on 24th Feb it was a nightmare
11:38.3
11:42.0
They came to destroy us
11:42.1
11:47.6
What they have done in Bucha, eh.., everywhere. And what they done to Mariupol.
11:47.7
11:54.4
We were at Sartana (small town next to Mariupol)1.5 years ago
11:54.5
11:59.6
We were visiting Shyrokine all the time
11:59.7
12:05.3
Oh, not Shyrokine, i'm lying. We were driving to Mariupol all the time
12:05.4
12:11.0
In turns, we had to acquire then this, then that for our unit
12:11.6
12:18.6
I know Maripol quite well. And what they have done to it now. It was a fine city!
12:18.7
12:22.5
Those are barbarians, i don't know how to call them otherwise.
12:22.6
12:28.3
What do you relatives/friends say "Grandpa, why are you there"?
12:28.4
12:35.0
I already... Daughter, grandson, grandchildren were telling "Why the hell you're there, go home!"
12:35.1
12:39.1
They don't bother me anymore, no. They already know that i will remain here.
12:39.2
12:41.5
They know their Grandpa. That...
12:41.6
12:46.9
I will not come back home until we cleanse that scum from our land.
12:47.0
12:53.0
Yes, at first, few years ago, they've been telling:
12:53.1
12:55.7
"Go home already, go home already!"
12:55.8
12:59.5
Everyone has his own conscience, i don' know.
12:59.6
13:03.1
You have to banish those bastards from our land.
13:03.2
13:10.4
We're waiting for you, boys. Come visit us, come help us old folks.
13:10.5
13:15.3
Grandpa, do you have any dream? -YES. Which one?
13:15.4
13:17.9
Well, i cannot say it in here.
13:18.0
13:26.2
My dream is that we with our comrades and friends, we have to... Eh... I will say it, it's not rude
13:26.3
13:30.0
My dream is to get to Uspenka (a village at the russian border)
13:30.1
13:35.4
and to piss on their scumbag land - that's my dream.
13:35.5
13:42.6
Grandpa, let God protect You, let him give you health, strength, patience
13:42.7
13:45.7
to win this enemy and let your dream become true.
13:45.8
13:49.0
They won't overcome us! Yeah.
13:49.1
13:52.9
Glory to Ukraine! - Glory to Heroes!
