Life and work before the full-scale war I was born in Kryvyi Rih in the Dnipro region. As a child, I played rugby and even played for the Ukrainian junior national team. After school, I entered a metallurgical academy. I transferred to distance learning and went to work at the plant as a locksmith. I …
Oleh Dolzhok: “I went to war, to be honest with myself” Read More »
Love for the military from childhood I was born in a village near a military unit, close to a shooting range. Ordinary kids would play behind the garages or on playgrounds but I would go get milk at my grandma’s and run to the soldiers, so that they would let me sit in the self-propelled …
Football fan and military man I’m a football fan and I support Dynamo Kyiv. Apart from that, I don’t support any other clubs. As a child, I used to play at the CSKA Kyiv club, which was later renamed “Arsenal”. I am a military man by profession. I have been serving for 13 years. I …
Alexander Ponomarev: “As long as there is a war, we are in it to the end” Read More »
Military career In 1990, I finished military school and served in various positions until 2000. Then I was dismissed due to the length of service. I made an unsuccessful attempt to find myself in business. Then I worked in various positions in different organisations. Then I went to one company and worked there as a …
Service in the Police and the Dream Before 2010 I only had civilian jobs – construction, service station, car wash. I wasn’t afraid of any kind of work, whether it was hard, easy, or dirty. In 2010, a friend of mine invited me to join the police and since then, I became a member of …
Maksym Dmytrash: “Now I live not only for myself but also for the four fallen comrades” Read More »
Before the war I come from an athletic family, I have been into cycling since childhood, and I am a master of sports in cycling. I graduated from the Mykolaiv School of the Olympic Reserve, was a member of the USSR national team, attended a school of higher sportsmanship, and graduated from two sports institutes. …
Yaryna Alimanova: “I have already defeated myself” Read More »
Children’s dreams Since childhood I dreamed of joining the military, I liked everything military. But I wanted to be not just a military man, but… a special one. A special forces officer. I looked at the Ukrainian special forces of the SBU, Alpha, which was then called “Berkut”. But my parents were against it. There …
Vitalii Borodavka: “I wanted to be a special military man” Read More »
Before the war I am from the Rivne region, from Zarichne. I finished school in 2014. At that time, my brother was already a border guard and was fighting in the ATO. Everyone was worried, and I wanted to join him. I applied to Azov, but I was 17 at the time, and they only …
Why the Army In 2012 I graduated with honours from the master’s program at the Kyiv National University of Technology and Design. I was offered a Ph.D. position, and I even planned to pursue it. The exams were scheduled in six months. However, during that time, I decided that I wanted to join the military. …
Maxym Zubov: “I compete with the person in the mirror” Read More »
