A resident of Barnaul, 35-year-old builder Ilya Syaglov, makes stoves for military personnel in the special operation zone.

He has already handed over about 20 designs to the fighters.

“Everyone can help, you just need to think about how their skills can be useful,” says RT’s interlocutor.

According to Ilya, he knows about the needs of soldiers from his own experience: “I have a year of military service and three years of contract under my belt.

I really wanted to help in some way, and I decided to do what I could.”

Syaglov has been accustomed to working with his hands since childhood.

He even moved from an apartment to a private house so that he could set up a workshop there.

“There I made several potbelly stoves from the metal that I had at home, and several rocket stoves (portable tourist stoves) from empty gas cylinders,” recalls Ilya.

“But I didn’t know through whom they could be passed on to our guys at the Northern Military District.”

I asked my neighbors - a woman from a neighboring village came to me and asked how much the stoves cost.

I replied that I wouldn’t take a penny for them.

This is my principle and my duty."

So Ilya sent the first cargo to the soldiers: five stoves and six “missiles” went to the 74th brigade.

After this, Syaglov began to be asked to make stoves for other units.

“The materials for the stoves were no longer at hand, so I decided to buy gas cylinders and small stoves at my own expense,” he says.

— In the process of communication, the sellers asked where their goods would go, and, having learned that our guys were in the Northern Military District, they did not take money from me.

Very kind and sympathetic people, thank you very much.”

So Ilya managed to send seven stoves, and soon he plans to transfer ten more to one of the battalions.

"Roulette, pencil, fantasy"

Over time, Syaglov met like-minded people who began to supply him with materials for stoves and consumables.

In the workshop, Ilya is helped by friends and even his eight-year-old son, who does simple work.

According to the volunteer, one stove can be made in one or two evenings.

“Whenever possible, we make them with an ash pan, so that there is good draft for combustion and so that the ash can be removed,” he shares.

— If we make a stove from new sheet metal, then marking, cutting with a grinder and welding, especially small parts, takes a lot of time.

And if from gas cylinders, then the most difficult thing is to remove the brass valve, because it is usually very tight.

Then the cylinder is filled with water to wash off the propane and protect against fire.

Next, a hole is drilled - and you can cut the cylinder according to the markings and select parts from sheet metal.”

  • © Photo from personal archive

According to Syaglov, to work he needs “welding, an angle grinder, a tape measure, a pencil, imagination, and ingenuity.

Well, desire, of course.”

Ilya does not intend to stop at stoves alone.

Now he is working on creating a machine for cutting tapes, from which camouflage nets can then be weaved.

“I sketched out a drawing, decided to make the main part on a CNC machine, then I will try to assemble the machine itself,” he says.

— There is still a lot of work.

I would like to help as much as possible, but, unfortunately, ideas and desires do not always coincide with our capabilities.

But I think we will establish some other areas.”

Syaglov was inspired to help the fighters by his cousin Denis, who was mobilized in the fall of 2022.

“Denis and I, one might say, grew up together.

Both my family and his lived very simply,” he recalls.

“His mother raised three children alone, and from early childhood they were accustomed to labor and work.

We often went to haymaking with him and his brothers and to gather firewood.

And we worked together in the garden, both for them and for us.”

Having matured, Ilya began to see Denis less often, but they maintained contact.

Even after being sent to a special operation, the cousin tried to convey to his family the news that everything was fine with him.

“Last June my brother came on vacation.

We met at the airport and talked to him for a long time.

This was our last meeting.

Then they told me that he went missing after going on a combat mission... We all hope that he is alive,” says Syaglov.

Ilya hopes that his example will inspire other Russians to help SVO participants.

“I would like my action to stir up our citizens who live at a distance from what is happening in our country.

Some people seem to think that this does not concern them, so they should not participate.

It’s sad and unpleasant to observe, but I really hope that with my example I will turn this situation around,” he concluded.