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Thank you, heroes!

Kyivites welcomed soldiers of the 95th Separate Airborne Brigade who spent about a year fighting in the Donbas

12 March, 15:03

Up to 100 people gathered near Boryspilska metro station early on March 11 holding flags and flowers. Kyivites responded to the appeal made by the Come Back Alive volunteer group and came out to welcome soldiers returning from eastern regions as they entered the city. The 95th Brigade column transited Kyiv on its way from the Donbas to Zhytomyr, where some men will be discharged after nearly a year of fighting.

Students of the New Science Generation Lyceum came to welcome the heroes as well. These children have been helping the brigade since September 2014 and have already raised funds and purchased a thermal imager and a night vision device for the soldiers. “We regularly hold various events,” the lyceum’s deputy director Natalia Shypko told us. “For example, our children staged two charity concerts and raised 30,000 hryvnias in October. The funds raised were used to pay for the night vision device. During this year’s Maslenitsa festival, they sold pancakes and the sale’s proceeds were transferred to a hospital treating wounded servicemen. Soldiers often come to meet us.”

Paramedic Olha Bashei, callsign Krokha, came to welcome her friends as well. The brave woman enjoys fame of her own, and Ukraine’s president bestowed the Order of Princess Olha on her on March 7. “I first met men of the 95th Brigade at Debaltseve. There were fewer losses there at the time,” Bashei recalled. “They are fine and desperately brave people, and this mood unites us. More generally, I am impressed how kind and sensitive our men are, always ready to help, even to give you their own sleeping bag or sleeping pad. I have worked in the east since July, and our soldiers have been taking utmost care of me too.” Bashei emphasized how important state awards were for frontline soldiers, as they stimulate and encourage the men, show that the government remembers them.

Finally, APCs and military trucks carrying soldiers appeared on the road. Vehicles did not stop, so people just covered them in roses and gerberas and thanked the soldiers. One serviceman, “cyborg” Ivan from the 95th Brigade, left his vehicle to talk to the welcoming crowd. He worked as a commissioning editor at the 1+1 TV before the war, but went to the recruiting office with a friend after the annexation of Crimea, where they signed up to be available for the call-up should hostilities begin. He was called up soon and fought in the east from April 2014. His face can now be seen in the calendar celebrating the defenders of the Donetsk Airport, on the page for March. Kyivites surrounded Ivan at once and literally covered him in flowers.

“Honestly, I just want to take a bath now, to sleep in my bed at home, to see my loved ones again, to take off my uniform and put on jeans and sneakers,” “cyborg” Ivan smiled. The man is hoping for a prompt discharge, wants to come back to TV, but has no definite plans so far. “First of all, I need to readapt to civilian life and get treatment, and then we will see. Perhaps they will call us up again,” Ivan reflected. “My life has changed a little. However, on the surface of it, we all come home from the front just as we were before. If you keep these experiences out of your soul, you will come back the same person.”