“We will win when we will show the truth”

Our friend, soldier Artur Stepanenko visited our office on May 6. Known by his callsign Sokil, he serves with the 3rd Independent Tank Battalion “Deerslayer.” We told this soldier’s story last year in article We Look Up to the Donetsk Airport Defenders. Den’s staffers have befriended him. Stepanenko came to Kyiv on a leave in May. He stood as the godfather for the son of an old friend, and then met with schoolkids. Sokil boasted to us of the flag presented to his unit by a school from Kyiv region. The huge blue-and-yellow banner, sewn from many little flags, is decorated with hearts, braids, and good wish inscriptions, done by small children and high school students alike. Stepanenko will bring this gift to his brothers-in-arms serving in the east.

On the Victory Day, the soldier will meet with students of his home school in the village of Kozhukhivka, Kyiv region. “One WWII veteran is still living in our village, and I want to present flowers to him and offer my thanks, for I have now felt for myself what he and his brothers-in-arms did. Then, I want to play at least one match for my old football team,” Stepanenko said revealing his plans. “I think our veterans know best how to celebrate the Victory Day. This is the day of joy for them. Victory came through joint effort of many countries. Meanwhile, the Victory Day is the veterans’ holiday, not ours.”

Sokil’s unit is serving in Donetsk region now. The soldier told us that the militants were amassing their vehicles near Donetsk. They fire mortars at the Ukrainian army positions daily. Sometimes, the militants use Grad multiple rocket launchers or self-propelled artillery as well.

Victory in the information field is as important as the military success. “We have to win the information war, and then those residents of the Donbas who are now against Ukraine will see the truth for themselves,” Stepanenko stressed. “Russian TV channels show films about the Euromaidan and events in Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. They depict Ukrainian soldiers as Fascist-like butchers. The eastern Ukrainians’ response to such films is natural. We will never convince anyone by shouting, quarrelling, and having nervous breakdowns. We will win when we will show the truth.”

The Day prepared a surprise gift for the soldier: we donated to the 3rd Independent Tank Battalion “Deerslayer” two starting and charging devices, needed to start a tank.

Let us recall that portrait of Stepanenko, entitled Callsign Sokil and created by photographer Serhii Kharchenko in Sloviansk last summer, won Den’s Golden Award at past year’s Den’s photo competition. Subsequently, CEO of Aquavita Ltd. Tetiana Yurkova purchased the photo at a charity auction for 15,000 hryvnias. We transferred this sum to cover Ukrainian military’s needs and handed some of it to Stepanenko himself.