“We look up to the Donetsk airport defenders”

We met the soldier with callsign Sokil (Falcon) on the eve of the Den’s 16th International Photo Exhibit’s opening. Artur’s portrait, made by Serhii Kharchenko in Sloviansk this summer, won Den’s Golden Award. The editorial staff found the hero captured in the photo and recorded his story. Soon we submitted Stepanenko’s photo to a charity auction, where it was bought by Aquavita CEO Tetiana Yurkova for 15,000 hryvnias. We sent the money to Ukrainian soldiers and Stepanenko in particular. The Day constantly keeps in touch with the soldier. In early December Sokil arrived to Kyiv on a 10-day leave, and finally we met him in person, when he visited our editorial office.

In real life Stepanenko is a modest man, you would never say he commands a tank crew. The solider said that as soon as he arrived in Kyiv, he started receiving invitations to schools and kindergartens to meet children. “Children ask about everything, what kind of tank I have, whether I have a machine gun and a grenade launcher. Sometimes it seems that I just won’t be able to answer and burst out crying. But such meetings are something incredible.” By the way, Stepanenko chose his leave in such a way as to be in the city for his little niece’s birthday, he missed her a lot.

Sokil, the man of the 3rd Detached Tank Battalion “Zvirobii” (Deerslayer), told The Day about everyday life at war: about his tank, fights, night duties, and even winds blowing at the front. We also talked about peaceful life: football, poems, Lysa Hora (a hill in the capital), and the beautiful Kyiv.

“WE PUT ON SOVIET SHEEPSKIN COATS, GRAB A GUN, AND GO ON DUTY”

“Now we are defending Mariupol. I got my first war experience last summer, when I served in the National Guard. Later, when I was conscripted in the army, I learned the details. Back in the army I was trained as a tanker, and the guys from the National Guard wanted me to be their instructor. I could train people at a base near Kyiv, but is it interesting? All my friends are at the front.

“Almost everyone in the army are experienced soldiers. Age varies, I have served 10 years ago, some people – 30 years ago. We trained at a firing ground for a while, refreshed out skills, and went to Donbas. My Maidan experience came handy in Mariupol, because I got used to the cold there. Some guys freeze, but they adapt with time. It is not too cold in Mariupol, it’s only unpleasant when the wind blows from the sea. We put on Soviet sheepskin coats, grab a gun, and go on duty.”

“YOURS ARE FOLLOWING YOU!”

“Basically, everything is calm in Mariupol, people have a great attitude towards Ukrainian troops. Almost all of the youth moved out, it is mainly the elderly that remained. However, a lot of people are coming back for winter. We help the locals as much as we can: chop wood, provide water. Water in Mariupol is so bad that when you use it to cook, everything comes out bitter. It is not fit for drinking, so we pass out our water supplies to the locals.

“During these months my impression of the eastern regions has changed. I have talked to residents of Sloviansk and Mariupol a lot. The feeling that we are different is gone. We are the same. But the nature is different. Before, I used to think that there is nothing but waste banks in Donbas. But I saw steppes, wolves, and hares there. We walk, and mice scatter in all directions under our feet; falcons are flying in the sky. The boys say: ‘Yours are following you!’”

“WE SLEEP IN OUR FREE TIME”

“There are signalers, staff officers, gunners among us. We are friends, we help each other, and sometimes I give my comrades a ride on the tank. We are helping the common cause, and we must not quarrel. It is different among separatists. I have seen them shoot at each other trying to settle something.

“We sleep in our free time. Or watch movies on a laptop, volunteers bring them. Some cook, some read, some play with a cat. The cat latched onto us itself. We named her Nika. Its fur is ash gray, beautiful, she catches mice every night. I also look at children’s drawings. It is fantastic, you know what you stand for.”

“RUSSIANS DID NOT EXPECT UKRAINE WOULD OFFER SUCH RESISTANCE”

“I contacted with separatists back in Sloviansk. My men and I detained one of them, he admitted he was in prison when those DNR guys came and said that either they would shoot him, or he would get a weapon and go to war. Then we handed that separatist over to the SBU. There are a lot of Kadyrov’s fighters on that side. I    heard them speak their language a couple of times.

“Sometimes we sit across a river, our outpost is on one bank, and the enemy’s on the other. When they are trying to shoot at one of our outposts, we put things to order quickly, there’s no need to bother us! Russians prepared for this war, their weapons are better. But they did not expect Ukraine to offer such resistance.”

ON VOLUNTEERS

“A lot of people come to us. Foreigners, too: we have had visitors from Lithuania and Norway. They bring scrim and dry rations. Our guys sent universal aid kits once: gathered the best things from the American, British, and Israeli kits and combined them into one. And of course, taught us how to use them.

“We often see volunteers from the 38th Company of the Maidan Self-Defense where I belong, and just the residents of Kyiv oblast. Some bring clothes, some bring fried seeds. We like pumpkin seeds a lot.”

THE TANK NAMED ANGELINA, THE WHITE TIGER, AND SEVEN SHELLS

“Our vehicles are not really new, dating back to around the early 1990s. The mechanics have brushed it up, so everything is working. My tank was made in 1991. Virtually every day I go out on a mission with various companies. We observe our fire and cover retreats. I have fired seven tank shells on the enemy’s lines. Afterwards the reconnaissance boys check if we hit or miss. As a rule, it’s a hit.

“My tank is named Angelina, the White Tiger. The name Angelina was picked by the mechanic in honor of his granddaughter. I call it the White Tiger, just like the ghost tank from the movie. We ride and roam like ghosts.”

“THE TROOPS NEED PSYCHOLOGISTS AND COMMUNICATION”

“Sometimes I stutter. This will pass, but the troops need psychologists and communication. I know a woman, we used to be playmates back in the childhood, she is a psychologist. Every time I talk to her, I feel a lot better.

“At home everyone was delighted to see me. A lot of friends are coming over, the door is never closed. Strangers offer a seat in the metro, treat me to cigarettes, offer food and socks, so I feel somewhat awkward (smiling).”

“I HAD TO SAY FAREWELL TO MY WORK AS A COP BECAUSE I HATE BRIBERY”

“I went to work in the police right after the army. They invited me to work for them, actually. I became a district inspector’s deputy, and wanted to introduce some more order. But in 2009 I had to say farewell to my work as a cop because I hate bribery. When money was offered, I passed the cases to my bosses. Sometimes, the cases were simply closed. What can a junior sergeant say when the infringer walks directly into the officer’s room, and afterwards laughs me in the face? I could not stand it anymore and resigned.

“Afterwards I worked as a construction worker, then completed a training course and got a job as a reactor electrician at the Institute for Nuclear Research. I have no desire to come back to the police, moreover, after Maidan. I have friends among law enforcers, we communicate alright, but I will not be able to work there.”

“HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR FEAR, WE WOULD HAVE LONG BEEN DEAD”

“You feel fear during shelling, or when you go out on a mission at night. Sometimes you are terrified beyond words. But had it not been for fear, we would have long been dead.

“A comrade in arms said once that he could have paid off and dodged the draft, but he wouldn’t do it. He has a young wife and elderly parents. He said that had Russians assaulted, he would have surrendered. But he keeps serving and doing his duty, and I see him mature before my eyes. The guy has changed, indeed.”

“WE READ DEN FROM COVER TO COVER”

“The boys read newspapers, Den and another military periodical. From our comrades in arms we learn the front news on the phone. But no one would watch television, even if we had it. Half of the news is total bullshit. We read Den from cover to cover, if only we have spare time.

“Journalists come to us, recently there was a reporter from Zaporizhia. The troops have enormous responsibility for journalists’ lives. Many men are afraid to give interviews for fear of their families’ security.

“I am okay with reporters on the front line, I talk to them. Sometimes I upload all sorts of photos on the Internet. Of course, I check out what I must never publish, in order not to disclose our location. At any rate, the other side knows me and my tank very well. Besides, tank crews and sharp-shooters are never taken prisoners. I have only one goal, and that is victory.”

ON BATTALION COMMANDERS-TURNED-POLITICIANS

“None of the army commanders has turned politician, only those of the volunteer battalions. If they do something good, then it is wonderful. If they only made those battalions to promote themselves, their men will bury them.”

“OUR MEN LONG FOR AN OFFENSIVE”

“Our men long for an offensive, but the higher commandment restrains. Every day one, two, or three men are killed. You feel fury because you can only shoot back in response. We realize that a peaceful settling is necessary, but let the other side also do something for this. We keep to the truce, and the enemy is abusing it. As soon as another ‘armistice’ is declared, we get ready for massive bombardments.

“Should they command assault, we will assault.”

“THEY ARE OUR PRIDE”

“The boys should hold fast no matter what! They are our pride, and an example for all other troops. We look up to the defenders of the airport. Just like them, we are not taking a single step backwards.”

“FIRST PEOPLE LIKE ME WERE NICKNAMED UKROPS”

“We must hold out till the spring. Even some Russians say: hold out till the spring, and then we will overthrow our tyrant. There is a sick man on the throne, what can you do with that? I have acquaintances in Russia, and in Crimea. First they nicknamed people like me ukrops, now they have assumed a more or less normal attitude.

“After the war I do not plan anything crazy: just work, play football, and lead a normal life. I am captain of the football team in Vasylkiv. In the winter we play in the gym, in the summer we have a championship, we tour the villages. Last summer we played near Sloviansk. Now we need to prepare skis, buy a shotgun and a warm hat – and off to hunt the hare. In Mariupol they say there are excellent hunting grounds nearby. However, now all the game is away because of all the shelling.”

“WE’LL WIN, I KNOW THAT FOR SURE”

“Now the capital is preparing for the New Year, it’s great! That is what we are fighting for: so that people could have a normal life.

“I adore Kyiv, first of all Andriivsky Descent and the neighborhood. In the summer I would sit down and chat with my friends on the grass near Lysa Hora. It is an excellent place to go there alone, to think things over or write poems. I used to write love songs, but now I just cannot, everything has changed. Now I will have to write about war, but I do not want that. Maybe, I will start writing poems again, with time, when I return to normal life. And I will. We’ll win, I know that for sure.”