Ihor Orel - THE CHRONICLE OF ONE BATTALION: This book about Russian aggression in the East of Ukraine

THE CHRONICLE OF ONE BATTALION

Disclaimer : Although the author and publisher have made every effort to present the information in this book correctly at the press time, the author and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any part for any loss, damage or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omission are results from negligence, accident or any other cause. This book is for entertainment purposes only. The expressed views are just the authors opinion and should not be taken as expert advice. The reader is responsible for his own actions. Neither the author or the publisher assume any liability or responsibility on behalf of the reader or purchaser of this material.

Table of Content

PROLOGUE

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

EPILOGUE

CV

PROLOGUE

Having published in 2010 a small forecast The Historical Mission of Yanukovych, I defined that this mission lies in bringing our country and people to the lowest point of decay after which social changes will start. And then I subconsciously analyzed the criteria for the lowest point of our decay: when are we going to reach it? How do we find out that this is it?

And when in February 2014 the Maidan removed Yanukovych from power for the second time and it was stated that the Revolution had won, I could not agree that we already reached the lowest point: people had something to eat and where to live, gas, water and electricity were supplied to houses. The situation definitely did not correspond to that of the lowest point of decay.

And then the events started being unfolded towards a war. It became clear for me that it was war that is the lowest point of decay we were to reach. Already in March 2014 me and a small group of like-minded people started looking for our place in the ranks of the Ukrainian resistance. The beginning of the war was the lowest point of decay: political, economic and, most important, moral. Though Ukrainian resistance in itself was based on the wave of patriotism and national consciousness, but extremely different people with absolutely different motivation participated in it.

This Chronicle describes the events and facts the author witnessed himself, participated in or heard about from the participants known to him, directly involved in the events. No testimony of unknown people has been used here. All the facts are provided uncommented. When I still allow myself to make a comment, using the authors right, I note that this is a subjective comment (you may not read it if you dont want to, I am not trying to impose my opinion). While these facts are highly unaesthetic, they are still provided by me not to defame our Ukrainian resistance movement, but to provide an authentic picture of how our people was passing through the lowest point of its moral (along with other components) fall. I hope, at the same time, that I have managed to provide the facts testifying to the elevation of spirit manifested in peoples deeds. This is all in both white and black. And in all other shades. The author does not care about evidence and references to witnesses this is not a thing written for the court. That is why no surnames are mentioned in the text.

And one more thing. The records were made on a daily basis: from June to December 2014. But I was not in a hurry to make them public, for me to better understand what had been happening and what I had recorded. Now a year and a half have elapsed after the events, and I consider it possible to publish the records.

Any coincidences: of call signs, events, terrains are absolutely accidental.

MAY

4.05.2014 8.05.2014

From Yurii Asieiev's reminiscences:

On May 4, we, the residents of Luhansk, together with Mykola and two more guys, Serhi and Oleksandr, arrived in the town of Svatovo to meet our battalion commander.

On May 5 the Ministry of Defense issued an order establishing a volunteer territorial self-defense battalion. There were only 6 of us in it back then. The four of us went to the point indicated by the battalion commander and were waiting for weapons supplies. On the night from May 5 to May 6 close to the village of Novopreobrazhenske the battalion commander with his friend Ihor brought the things we had been waiting for.

On May 6 by 2 cars (already seven of us) we went close to the village of Nianchyne, where we set the first camp for the future batallion.

On the very first evening, May 6, our camp was visited by several delegations. Guys from the Security Service came they brought some household supplies, local peasants came to show that they were loyal to us, 3 more volunteers arrived... We were waiting for the attack every moment, intelligent agents of separatists were wandering around the Bilokurakyne area ...

We dug trenches for patrols on the slopes of Chabanivka valley ... In the daytime we dealt with printout of maps in Starobilsk, procurement of household items, foodstuffs for the camp, intelligence activities ... In the night time that was all about patrols, car repairs, some sleep ...

On May 8 our friends-compatriots came to our detachment. There were already 16 of us.

On May 9 on the Kupiansk-Svatove highway we were meeting the car column of the Maidan representatives going to our partisan detachment. Maestros and Tsunamis car, on getting into a large pit, hit the marbles and fell over the roadside 6 times! Everybody stayed alive! ... Our number by May 10 already exceeded 100 people!

In the photo: Departure from the Maidan to the East

09.05.2014 11.05.2014

Before this, on May 7, we returned with my daughter from Lviv - I thought Donbass had already been given up and went there to get ready to move out. Before leaving, I saw on TV a phone number for those who wanted to join the territorial defense battalion in Luhansk region and called Yurii Asieiev from Alchevsk, asking him to contact the organizers. Upon return I learned that my friends with whom we had decided to become volunteers were already in the territorial defense battalion. It so happened that our group consisted of 4 former heads of local Rukh ('Movement' - Civil and Political Union) centres the organization already did not exist, but we were to meet again. I asked how to reach them and left. I took the Kyiv train to Svatove. There I spent the night at Yevhen Dziubas place, he is an old Rukh member. In the morning I went to Starobilsk. Then to Bilokurakyne. And there I was taken by a car from the car station to the woods by Vova and Shprot (Sprat), a car maidan (Automaidan) participant and maidan participant-military man, both of them from Luhansk.

Thats how my service in the battalion started. The battalion commander told me that the battalion was meant for self-defense of the town of Svatove which did not let the Mozhovyis gang in there, but they turned out not to be ready to get weapons, therefore a call to join the battalion was made on the Maidan.

People were gathering in the conservation forest, amidst the conservation steppe. Mat-grass, baneberry, wild strawberry Maple woods, in a beam. A half-metre layer of black soil.

First acquaintances. I remember a memorable girl from Luhansk, a very slim one, in spectacles, called Masha. A couple of days later somebody took her to Luhansk. I have never seen her again. P.S. In 2015 there will be far more talks about this girl, Masha Varfolomeieva.

We lived in tents. Cooked on fire. I became responsible for foodstuffs, spent the night in the self-made foodstuff storage facility made of pulled-up polyethylene arm. Here the medical unit was established. There were patrols since there were some units of firearms.