The cold penetrates through the fifth layer of clothing, through fleece, jacket and thermal underwear, and the piercing wind leaves no chance to warm up.
There seems to be nothing around that is not covered in ice.
The stingray refuses hot tea.
This is so that you don’t have to unbutton yourself again later: the conveniences are on the street.
Now Skat is a combat training instructor, training contract soldiers of the 76th Air Assault Division who have already arrived at the Northern Military District.
“I recently met with a man from the Wagner PMC, who now works in the [intelligence] group.
I ask him: “Why did you come here?
Haven’t you already won yours?”
He says: “Yes, my grandson asked me: “Grandfather, will you bring me a medal?”
I told him: “So you have to earn it.”
Then the grandson asks: “Will you earn me a medal?”
Well, I got ready and went to sign the contract.
I will earn a medal for my grandson,” says RT’s interlocutor.
Skat became an instructor not long ago.
On his right shoulder are two chevrons.
A bat belonging to intelligence, and a round patch under it from a separate reconnaissance battalion with the phrase in Latin: “Fate helps the brave.”
From the very beginning of the North Military District, he carried out tasks as a reconnaissance squad commander in the 175th separate reconnaissance battalion.
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“Rockets flew at exactly six in the morning,” he says.
“We jumped into the cars and drove to Kyiv through Chernobyl.
We didn’t drive through the city itself, of course, but along the outskirts.
But we still saw all these reactors, everything that they write about in books, they make computer games - it’s as if the USSR was still there.”
The Skat unit went ahead of everyone and carried out reconnaissance and search missions, clearing roads and populated areas of anything that could interfere with the movement of Russian troops.
“The sea of Ukrainian Molotov cocktails was destroyed,” the intelligence officer recalls.
“There, on the roads, they stood like boxes, and everything was mined.
Ultimately, we reached a point when there were only 5 km left to Kyiv.”
For completing tasks in the Kiev direction, Skat received the Suvorov medal.
Next was the Kharkov region.
There, the paratroopers also carried out reconnaissance and ambush operations.
In May 2022, Skat's unit reached Popasna.
“We started moving towards Vasilievka, and almost immediately it hit me right through the shoulder.
First a blow, and only then an explosion.
I thought that maybe a stone had fallen off.
I look at my shoulder: everything seems to be fine, but then the blood started flowing.
A colleague was lying next to me, he saw this and began to take out scissors to cut my shirt.
Before this I just wanted to buy myself a new one.
I looked at the prices: good shirts cost as much as an airplane wing.
And he was about to cut.
I say: “No, brother, nothing like that.
There is already a hole, so let it be.
I’d rather shoot it like this,” Skat recalls with a laugh.
"I had seven grenades"
The wounded Skat was evacuated.
He spent two weeks in the hospital, then went on vacation and returned to the Northern Military District zone, already in the Kherson direction.
“There was a task when we worked against a tank for two days,” says the scout.
“We had to take the forest belt back and straighten out the front.
We went there in three groups: from the 1st company, the 2nd company and the Special Forces (special purpose -
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).
29 people, but only nine were able to get out.
It was possible to take the forest belt only after our tanks got involved.
Then we crawled back and forth for 700 meters all night, pulling out our “two hundredths” and “three hundredths” with nine of us.
Naturally, they pulled everyone out and left no one behind.”
For completing this task, Skat was awarded the medal “For saving the dead.”
Then there was Kremennaya.
“The tasks there were of a different nature - either an assault, or sitting at an observation post: assault - NP, assault - NP,” continues RT’s interlocutor.
— There were observation posts 50-100 m from the enemy.
Sometimes you sit and hear them talking there, talking all sorts of nonsense, and scolding their own Zelensky.
And as the division advanced, the reconnaissance battalion immediately went forward.”
Skat calls his extreme assaults on Kremennaya the most difficult.
On one of the missions, he was left alone in the trench, the commander did not contact him, and they also reported on the radio that the Ukrainian military had already jumped into the trench and were heading towards the reconnaissance officer.
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“And my RPK (Kalashnikov light machine gun. -
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) was so good, it hit normally.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine are probably offended by him.
But then it jammed on me.
As soon as they started throwing bombs at us, sand poured in there.
I'm sitting here trying to clean it.
I had seven grenades.
I think I’ll throw away six now, and put one under my arm, because now there’s neck protection, and shoulder pads, and sidearms, and body armor - if something happens, you won’t blow yourself up,” says Skat.
But, fortunately, I didn’t have to do this.
Help came from the rear, continuing the battle behind the trench and giving Skat the opportunity to roll back.
“You remember after the task, you sit and laugh: “What kind of stupid thoughts came into my head there?”
- he adds.
After Kreminnaya, Skat’s unit went to Zaporozhye - and immediately to Verbovoye.
The paratroopers were tasked with regaining control over positions lost after a powerful counterattack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
“We came in, occupied the basement, and set up an observation post.
There were about 30 more regimental people there with us, with whom we interacted.
We repelled a couple of attacks from the Ukrainian side, and got acquainted with the tank,” continues Skat.
— We worked there for 11 days, more or less leveled the front line, and after that our regiment entered.
He has already done a good job, giving the enemy a good light.”
For 11 days of assaults in the Zaporozhye direction, Skat earned the Order of Courage.
His unit was taken to the rear to the sea to give the soldiers a rest.
They brought us to the place at five in the morning, but at 11 they were already leaving for the task again.
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“They sent us to a forest belt, we walked probably 200 meters,” the scout recalls.
“The Ukrainians noticed us and started throwing everything at us: cassettes, shotguns, and again a tank.
They began to run around, looking for shelter.
In the dark, he fell into a trench and slightly twisted his leg.
While the enemy was reloading, I was pulled out of there and sent to the rear.
Now I’m no longer fighting, I’m training new contract soldiers.”
Skat has been in the armed forces for 20 years.
While still in military service, he carried out tasks in Chechnya and received the medal “For Courage” there.
Much later, there was a business trip to Syria, and his combat path in the Northern Military District zone leaves no doubt at all: he can really teach a lot to military personnel who have just signed a contract.