Tiene la mirada de las mil yardas y no le culpo.
“Dmitriy Konstantinovich, born on July 31st, 1997, city of Moscow, southern district, raion Tsaritsin. Mobilized on the 21st of September, 2022, was deployed to Ukraine on October 5th.
You see, you’ve learned to say “in Ukraine” not “on Ukraine”, that’s good. (This deserves a bit of explanation. russians say “on Ukraine” instead of “in Ukraine”, it’s a small linguistic difference unnoticed by non native speakers but “on Ukraine” has a subjugation context, as in “boot ON Ukraine”. They say it on purpose to spite the Ukrainians and it’s considered a sign of russian supremacy within Ukraine.)
Now tell me, how many people were with you initially?
Initially, in the 3rd company, we had 72 people. 3rd company, 27th brigade unintelligible Tank Army. We had left no more than 30 people when we came to our next position in the forest where we spent about a month. Gradually our numbers kept dwindling due to killed and wounded.
What happened to the rest?
The rest deserted.
Uh huh. Where were the positions of the contract soldiers?
The contract soldiers were in the neighboring forest line, behind us, across the road.
You understood why you were put in front of them, right?
Yes, we were used as a shield.
What was your mission?
Our mission was surveillance of the road and also the railroad. Whenever possible had to take defensive measures and if it came to it, retreat to our positions in the forest or if everything was going badly, retreat to the position of the contract soldiers, using a password.
Hmm. What was the password?
Marsyn…
Marsyn…
Hmm. So the contract soldiers were behind you?
Yes.
So were put…
Yes, it’s all true.
…like cannon fodder. Yes?
Yes.
Are you content with this position, this situation you were put in?
No. I’m happy that I at least survived. I thought I wouldn’t make it the whole time.
What was the psychological condition of your colleagues in crimes against humanity?
Almost everyone was depressed. Not only because of low battle spirit but also because of logistics, lack of food, and overall conditions. We didn’t even know how we were going to spend the winter. We didn’t get anything that could be used to warm the trenches and defensive positions.
What message you’d like to send…”
