Bohdan Dyshko

“After the battles, when we would take weapons from the killed seps to destroy them, we saw that not all the weapons were Ukrainian. There were many samples of Russian-made weapons. The weapons were modern, not from the Soviet era, mostly manufactured in the 1990s and sometimes the early 2000s. It was very evident that there was a significant presence and “help,” as they called it, from the “brotherly” nation.

… But we also understood that they [the Russians] were rarely “pushing it” like that at first. They would try to avoid direct contacts and direct fights. Their artillery mostly worked from afar.

… Back before the war, we couldn’t even think [that we would have to fight Russian paratroopers]. Many guys in the Ukrainian Armed Forces would keep in touch with Russian paratroopers on social networks, message each other, exchange greetings on holidays, send each other videos and photos. But now… Now it was what it was.”