The Sun is Rising Over Kyiv on the 1113th Day of the Full-Scale Invasion. Meet Yaroslav of the 95th Air Assault Brigade. He has old scores to settle.
by Ukrainer_UA
The Sun is Rising Over Kyiv on the 1113th Day of the Full-Scale Invasion. Meet Yaroslav of the 95th Air Assault Brigade. He has old scores to settle.
by Ukrainer_UA
9 comments
“I don’t need books or Google to tell you how many rivers flow into Lake Baikal and how many flow out — I just know. My mother’s family was repressed by the Soviets, deported in cattle cars all the way to the Far East. I even knew my great-grandmother — she didn’t tell fairy tales, she told me how they survived there.”
**Mortarman Yaroslav of the 95th Air Assault Brigade says he has old scores to settle with the Russians.** He first saw the front lines back in 2014-2015: “I was in the operational reserve, knew the call would come, so I didn’t wait for it. By 8:30 a.m. on February 24, 2022, I was at the draft office. By afternoon, I was with the brigade.” His callsign is Major, though his actual rank is senior soldier.
>“They unloaded us from the buses along the airstrip — we were waiting for an enemy landing. We dug in fast. No comms, no radios. Then someone yells, ‘Enemy helicopters incoming!’
>At the time, I was assigned as the loader for a handheld anti-tank grenade launcher. It’s a two-man job — one aims and fires, the other loads. Small-arms fire was already hitting them. They were flying sideways to us. My gunner stands up straight out of the trench, takes aim with the launcher — and at that moment, I realise they’re ours. I smack the barrel just in time, and the shot goes low. That’s how I saved them.
>Later, the guys were rummaging around and found a major’s rank insignia. They go, ‘Since you’re quick on your feet…’ They gave it to me as a joke, and that’s how I became ‘Major’.”
He’s over 50 now and jokes that he feels younger every time a shell lands nearby. “It’s tough, yeah, but if we let them through, it’ll be a hell of a lot worse.”
**— How long will you fight?**
**— Till they’re gone, I guess.**
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Photos by [Karina Piliuhina](https://www.instagram.com/karina.piliuhina/?hl=en).
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Generations of suffering – his great grandparents now him. Still fighting. Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦!
Thank you for your service, Major! Give ‘em hell!
A man like this, and a man like Trump. Who would you choose as a friend?
🙏💪🇺🇦🙏💪🇺🇦🙏💪🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦
Give them hell Yaroslav!
🇺🇦 !
🇺🇦Слава Україні 🇺🇦
Sláva Ukraíni!
Heroyam Slava!
🙏🏽 🇺🇦 💙💛
I’m proud to support brave soldiers like Yaroslavl!!
Слава Україні Героям Слава 💙💛🇺🇦
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