I like to sleep, but on February 24, 2022, I woke up at five in the morning. I saw news about the explosions on my iPhone. Got it: war. At 9:00 he called the boss. Yes and yes, I will go home. My work was unfinished, three or four days were missing. According to the terms of the contract, a considerable fine should have been issued. The boss said: “I understand you.” After lunch, we met with the head of the company. I explained that I am Ukrainian and I have to go. He shook my hand: “I would do the same. There will be no fines.”
My girlfriend said on the phone: “Don’t think about coming back, I’m going to see you. Many people want to leave now, but they can’t. If you come, we’ll part ways.” But I decided: I must be in Ukraine.
The problem was to get there, all the blablakars were cancelled. I made an agreement with volunteers who were taking a humanitarian aid to children from Germany to the border. They took me, and I helped distribute the cargo at the border. That’s how I got to Ukraine.
Andrii “Sokal” CHAMOV, 33 years old, soldier-grenade thrower of the 5th separate assault regiment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He was born in Sokal, Lviv Oblast. As he himself says, “grandfather is Russian.” He studied at the Zolochiv College, at the Faculty of Agronomy and Accounting. Participant of the Revolution of Dignity. After the Revolution, he was educated in “Azov” on the basis of the “ATEK” plant. He returned home due to a knee injury. At the suggestion of his brother, he went to Poland. He worked in the city of Seradz in a geodetic firm that laid roads throughout the country. There is a grandmother among relatives, there are no parents. Likes football, swimming, fishing, especially at night, by the fire. Loves traveling, likes cars. He gave his own to his older brother before the war. He is a border guard, fought in the ATO. Now he has returned from the Netherlands and is fighting in the 67th mechanized brigade “Wolves da Vinci” named after Dmytro Kotsyubail. I had a husky dog, but I gave it to a small guy
The next day he went to the Sokal Teroboron. They said: service for three years. It didn’t suit me. A friend and I tried to get into the 103rd maintenance battalion in Lviv. But he was refused, and so was I. The Military Commissariat said to wait. Comrade “Ostap” from “Azov” offered to come to them in the “Freedom” battalion. They fought in the Kyiv region, the Katsaps had already retreated. Arrived in Kyiv. They could go to the SSO, the National Guard and the 5th Assault Regiment. They chose the 5th. It sounded elite.
There was an option that our platoon, those who are less than 35 years old, would go to England for training. The instructors will tighten up – and we will return to “Rambo”. We were ready. But one day the command came: immediate assembly, we are leaving. In the morning, our fire support company left for Donbas.
When they arrived in the city of N, they waited two days for an order. They lived in cars. Then he agreed with the brothers “Mamay” to move to the church. Because we got caught in a downpour on the way. They dried off, washed, and slept in the church. And from there they went to the border of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Our war has begun.
In the first battles near Lysychansk, they came under heavy mortar fire. I am not a religious person. I go to church three or four times a year. And you sit in the trench and pray that it doesn’t fly, 30 times a day. Now I’m used to it, I can even fall asleep under fire.
Once they were on combat duty and stopped for 20 minutes at PPD – a point of permanent deployment: they had to get spare parts for a grenade launcher. Texted a friend on his phone to pass on to my girlfriend. I was sure I wouldn’t come back.
We divide everything into a crew of four
We arrived in June, when we were really bombarded with artillery fire, when their aircraft got so insolent that they flew up close. Since September of last year, they felt that we have become stronger. Western weapons left, and our aviation began to work.
I am a grenade launcher. We are armed with the American MK-19 grenade launcher. When fully assembled, the approximate weight is 100-105 kilograms. When we need to advance somewhere where it is impossible to drive up, we distribute: one takes a grenade launcher, which weighs 35 kilograms without ammunition. Another – a tripod. We divide everything into a crew of four. We unfold and start working.
Our fighters learn quickly. When I saw MK for the first time, I thought that I would never learn to disassemble it, because it is difficult. Now – no problems. It is quite convenient to drive. If a Swedish or some American-Norwegian comes along instead, we will master it.
The worst thing is to take on the hot barrel of a grenade launcher. After shooting it is like an exhaust pipe. There is a special coating, but still. Once two machine guns were working on us. And I, in order not to climb out, carried the last box already squatting. They told me: “15 meters to the left, 5 meters to the right.” I did not raise my head. I showed my hand with a protractor – the hand will be injured, but it is a hand, the head will be fine. And at the end, he pulled the grenade launcher into the trench by the handle. He stopped and took the muzzle. It’s good that he pushed his chin away, it didn’t burn.
We are RVP, fire support company. The job is to neutralize breakthroughs in a certain area of the front. We are mobile. On the pickup – and go. We are told what the area is, and we have to make it as painful as possible.
At the beginning, they deployed a grenade launcher in 4 minutes with pennies. And now, when they have already agreed, then in a minute with something. At first they shot with direct aim. But fellow “Bodya” downloaded the American tables. They and “Agronomist” developed a canopy shooting scheme. With the help of a compass, we measure the azimuth and work towards the enemy. Mathematical work.
It happens that the enemy is already waiting for us. Once they worked 1 kilometer away from them. I saw machine gun nests without binoculars. After the first box, they opened fire on us from two machine guns. We waited, reloaded the box and with the help of our aerial reconnaissance gave it to them. They set fire to the ammunition, hit the dugout. Almost every one of our shots pinches them decently.
MK-19 is effective. It hits further than the Katsap analogue. We often hear on interceptions: “This dog “agees” is working for us, we can’t get it!” And they ask for mortar support. That is, we have a significant advantage – 200-300 meters. And thanks to this we are alive.
When people ask me if we have 200 or 300, I always say that God loves us
In fact, everything is due to mobility and mutual understanding. When the Russians still only understand where the fire is coming from, we are already moving half a kilometer away. It happened that “Gradam” cars were smashed to pieces, they returned on wheels. Half of the cars in our fleet have been hacked.
A car is definitely a jeep pickup. 4 by 4, four-wheel drive. Must be on good tires to go anywhere. The boys got it on their own, with the help of volunteers.
There is salvation from mortar fire – to dig and dig. If a person digs in well, there is a chance. The trench is your life. 90-95 percent that you will be unharmed.
We have three SPs, observation points where our guys stand. We change them, there is a rotation schedule. The points stand where the regiment is. And the grenade launchers there, if necessary, do their job. Sometimes even at night. There are night vision devices.
The trench is your life. 90-95 percent that you will be unharmed
At the beginning of the war, it seemed that the Katsaps had an endless conveyor belt of shells. They worked non-stop. But now the efficiency of their work has decreased a lot. And in some areas of the front, we outnumber them. “Highmars” work quite cool.
I do not believe people who say that they are not afraid. I remember the night near the oil refinery in Lysychansk. July, but the coldest night in life. Our trench is the first to the field. Katsaps set fire to the wheat. It has already gone out, it is dark. I was sitting with a machine gun, looking into the darkness. I was shivering. He sat like that all night, could not sleep. At five in the morning Lyokha came over, lit dry alcohol, I warmed my hands, we drank coffee.
Katsapov’s losses are insane. This is where the elite falls. But they should not be underestimated either.
After the victory, I will return to Poland. I plan to get a European education and become a professional surveyor. Many firms wanted me to work with them.
I am single, but after the war I want a family, children. I hadn’t thought about it before. And here he reconsidered a lot. I began to appreciate life. I used to be dissatisfied with many things. And now everything has fallen away.
Author: Pavlo VOLVACH, photo of the author – Gaseta.ua