Khaki manicure with the letter Z
“I am 20 years old and I am the deputy chief of staff of the first battalion,” says Yaroslava.
The girl studied to be a lawyer in Donetsk, but a year ago she went to serve.
According to her, her parents were not against it, especially since Yaroslav's father is now defending his native Donbass himself.
“When I first came, I was 19 years old, everyone looked at me so frivolously!
the girl smiles.
- I, in turn, tried to prove myself.
And as a result, she took such a high and very responsible position.
There are many difficulties, but we manage.
I've already gone through the hardest part of my job.
Fear dulled, but no one canceled the reflexes.
If there is some unexpected shot, you immediately think where to fall.
Whatever the situation at the front, "there is nothing that would break me as a woman," she adds.
The girl demonstrates a khaki manicure with the letter Z and laughs: “I’m a military man, you have to match.”
RT
To the jokes of male colleagues that there are no women in the army, but there are soldiers, Yaroslava reacts calmly: “I know that I have a job that needs to be done, and I do it.”
She succinctly explains her duties: to monitor the personnel and support of the battalion, and, if necessary, to evacuate the civilian population.
“We were in Popasna, we no longer met the locals, only empty houses,” says Yaroslava.
- There were lonely dogs, they are very sorry.
They saved one dog from Kamyshevakhi, very small, about three months old.
They called it Bullet, we feed it, we raise it, we educate it.
There will be a dog of our battalion.”
RT correspondent Arina Sladkova and Yaroslava
RT
Yaroslava says that the guys on the front line are doing well: “They are moving slowly.
The mood is normal, we are a little tired: we have been butting heads in the Lugansk People's Republic for a month now.
All of us are from Donetsk, and we want to defend our territory.
Well, nothing, you also need to help your brothers. ”
According to the girl, all her friends are now also at the front.
She does not condemn her peers who have left - “let them live as they know” - unlike those who are hiding and sitting at home: “Of course, I have a negative attitude towards such people.
Why not go and defend your own house?”
The meaning of life in combat conditions is changing, Yaroslava continues: “Sometimes people don’t know what they live for.
And now you are no longer worried about yourself, you are worried about your family.
I know that young people in Russia often have a bad relationship with their parents.
I can advise them only one thing: spend more time with your family, take your loved ones more seriously.
I would not want them to fall into our situation, but by our example they can learn to appreciate the family hearth.”
Son and Infantry
Yaroslav's age, Sasha, received his call sign Son, because two years ago he was the youngest in his unit.
“When the war started, I was 12 years old, generally a kid.
My whole family went to serve: my brother in 2018, and I entered the cadet corps in Donetsk, graduated from it and at the age of 18 joined the army.
At the moment, Sasha is acting as a foreman of the company, and before that he was a paramedic: “It’s very hard to look at the wounded and dead guys, especially when they are young boys whom you have known for a long time.
Most of my company, which was at the beginning, is no longer there.
According to Son, the last time he provided assistance was a few days ago: a colleague received a shrapnel wound.
“Rewound, anesthetized and taken to the doctors,” he explains.
During a conversation with an RT correspondent, muffled sounds of breaks are heard, and one is louder.
Sasha calmly turns her head to him: “This is from us, don’t be scared.
Our artillery works well.
In general, the successes are enormous.
We hope that we will soon go home, there is just a little bit left, literally kropalik, it’s easy to put the squeeze on them.
Let's liberate the Luhansk region and go home, liberate the Donetsk region.
And there I need to visit relatives, in Kharkov, Odessa, Dnepropetrovsk.
I haven't seen them for nine years.
My great-grandmothers live, they went through the Great Patriotic War.
We will finish off the enemy, we will return to our relatives.
Son
RT
According to Son, in civilian life he did not fully understand how important the family was: “I could quarrel with my mother, go somewhere.
And then the values changed dramatically.
It is much more important to bring water to a comrade, to help the boys, than to take a walk or even meet a girl.
His colleague, a grenade launcher with the call sign Infantry, has also been serving since the age of 18.
“As soon as I turned 18, I joined the army,” the young fighter shares his story.
He himself comes from Vinnitsa, but he has a family in the Donbass: a wife and two children.
The Infantry began its service from the Avdiivka industrial zone, and was wounded there in October 2018.
“The first bullet went through the neck,” he points to a place above the collarbone.
There were four bullets in total.
Then there was rehabilitation for about a year.
Then back to the "promku" system.
At the site of the current deployment of the 11th regiment, the fighter has recently and so far got acquainted with the team: “The boys are the same everywhere, all of their own, so I wouldn’t say that it’s somehow difficult to move from one team to another.
Not tired, cheerful mood.
The fighting spirit is supported by the family behind.
Better win!"
Dandy and Bandit
The platoon commander with the call sign Dendy arrived in Donetsk in 2014, when he was 21 years old.
“Eight years, eight contracts,” he notes.
About the reasons that prompted him to take up arms, the fighter says: “I watched everything that happened then.
I took my courage into a fist and came.
Now Dendy has 25 subordinates: “Of course, it is difficult to lead.
The guys are doing well.
Storming, forward every day.
We are left with little.
We will liberate the Luhansk region and go home to Donetsk.
Very strong “arrivals” are going there now.
But I reassure people from there that we will soon come to them.
100% - victory is ours.
I just don’t understand how the enemy doesn’t realize this yet?”
Dandy and Bandit
RT
His colleague with the call sign Bandit adds: “Don’t worry, we’ll be back very soon, everything will be fine, the shelling will end.”
The commander of the first battalion of the 11th regiment, with the call sign Said, has also been in the ranks almost from the very beginning of the conflict in Donbass: “Before that, I worked in a mine.
And when the shelling began, he could not stay away.
It was the cry of the soul, the call of the heart.
In August 2014, he received a double bullet wound to the neck.
“I have a shot in the larynx,” Said says.
- On October 4 of the same year, he received multiple shrapnel wounds in the head, back, and legs.
And three weeks later, on October 24, they covered me again, and I received multiple shrapnel wounds.
Of all the injuries, I remember these three cases.
Said
RT
The commander proudly talks about his subordinates: “The unit was created during all eight years of the conflict.
Three or four years ago, the regiment received the title of "Guards".
Well, in general, we have established ourselves as the most combat unit.
For two months, our regiment took part in the liberation of 22 settlements in the Donbass.
This is one of the best indicators among combat units participating in a special military operation.”
Said sums up our conversation: “The regiment is doing very well.
Every day there are small victories.
We grow strong in spirit.
We recently walked four kilometers, occupied three large forest belts and a small landing.
We knocked out a large concentration of the enemy and we are already entering the bypass road that separates the Luhansk region from the Donetsk region.
There was quite a bit left.
Much less than what has already been done."