Forever the best

Ukrainians gathered in Kyiv’s Independence Square on February 1 to bid final farewell to soldiers who died near Avdiivka; the fallen had served with the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade, which has been holding the line against the Russian thugs’ gangs for five days and counting. The event was attended by several hundred people who paid their last respects to Andrii Kyzylo (he was aged 23), Volodymyr Balchenko (25), Dmytro Overchenko (28), Volodymyr Kryzhanskyi (34), Yaroslav Pavliuk (36), Oleh Burets (26), and Vitalii Shamrai (26).

It is worth recalling that the fallen Captain Kyzylo was a graduate of the National Academy of Land Forces and the Bohun Military Lyceum, a student of the already legendary Hero of Ukraine Ihor Hordiichuk who was grievously wounded in the summer of 2014, but nevertheless survived and stayed with the army. Hordiichuk himself spoke very highly of Kyzylo, seeing him as a talented officer.

Oleh Burets

Radio Svoboda’s editor Iryna Shtohrin, who attended the farewell ceremony, wrote: “People who gathered in the square bid final farewell to the dead soldiers. They are young and beautiful... and lie in coffins. Gray-haired mourners asked for forgiveness, while young ones clenched their fists.”

 

Andrii Kyzylo

“The heroes’ farewell ceremony saw no government official in attendance,” volunteer Nazar Prykhodko commented. “Well, some MPs may have been present in private capacity, although I did not see them. The fallen men’s friends and brothers-in-arms did not see them either.

Volodymyr Balchenko

The minister of defense was absent, as were any representatives of the Presidential Administration or the Cabinet of Ministers... No black-ribboned flag was flown at half-mast.

 

Dmytro Overchenko

If they treat us in this way, then do not ask why here, in the information field, at the front, in our volunteering activities, we are not asking and will not ask the government what to do, whether it is appropriate or ‘allowed,’ etc.

 

Volodymyr Kryzhanskyi

Whom should we ask, you or your hirelings? We will win this war for the People and the Nation without you. We do not need you.”

Yaroslav Pavliuk

Starting on January 29, the enemy has been launching non-stop attacks on the Ukrainian positions all over the front line, and especially near Avdiivka, Donetsk oblast. Eight Ukrainian soldiers were killed in recent days, and there were civilian casualties as well as a result of the militants’ deliberate shelling of civilian neighborhoods.

Vitalii Shamrai

Nevertheless, the enemy losses are several times greater and are estimated to be in the dozens. Even Russian propaganda has been failing to cover it up. According to journalist Andrii Tsapliienko, large losses are deterring the enemy. In fact, the thugs have been moving away from the front line and deploying most devastating weapons from afar, especially heavy and rocket artillery. Relying on his own sources, former thug leader Igor Girkin acknowledges that the thugs’ losses are critically high and believes that without the active help of the Kremlin, the terrorists will not last long. There is evidence of defections among the militants, which Girkin has acknowledged as well.

However, the justified need to fight back meets hysterical opposition from some politicians. Indeed, Vladimir Putin’s offensive and active information support for it aim to show the world that it is Ukraine that is violating the Minsk Agreements.

Russian propagandists have reached the point where they cannot even read the map of the line of contact correctly, and say that the Ukrainian forces were shelling Avdiivka (that is, themselves). Be that as it may, our conclusion still stands: if Russia stops its aggression, the war in the Donbas will end. On the contrary, if Ukraine ceases to defend itself, the enemy will only expand its offensives which will lead to even greater losses. Our losses, meanwhile, include the nation’s best – college-educated soldiers, patriots, young and talented lads, while the enemy does not regret sending its mercenary, money-hungry, and feckless cannon fodder to their deaths, as confirmed by their biographies and statistics of losses. Still, we have no other way than to conduct active measures on all fronts, ranging from fighting along the line of contact and adequate information policy to diplomacy at the highest level.

The Kremlin’s criminals