For the Independence Day of Ukraine, the Prosecutor General’s Office has prepared a special project about the prosecutors who, from the first days of full-scale Russian aggression, took up arms and joined the ranks of the Defense Forces. The third story is about prosecutor Andriy Vysotskyi.
Andriy Vysotskyi is one of those who first met the enemy on the morning of February 24, 2022. While the country was waking up from the explosions, his unit moved to meet the enemy advancing across the Belarusian-Ukrainian border. The following days were a real hell, without sleep or rest: preparation for battle, battle, reconnaissance, preparation, battle…
Then – a serious injury, rehabilitation and return to civilian life and work in the Prosecutor General’s Office. On the eve of Independence Day, we talked with Andrii Vysotsky about what was the best and worst in the war.
From the prosecutor to the platoon commander
Vysotsky says that he became a lawyer almost by accident. My favorite teacher advised me to go to Odessa with a referral to higher education. I planned to just swim in the sea, but entered the Odessa National Law Academy. After graduation, he worked in the prosecutor’s office of his native Chernihiv region, and since 2016 – in the General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine (the old name of the Office of the General Prosecutor – ed.).
– I worked in the prosecutor’s office for quite a long time, but until 2020 – at the Department of International Legal Cooperation. Engaged in legal assistance in criminal proceedings against high-ranking officials, and then in asset recovery. That is, by searching for funds that were illegally seized and taken abroad, assisting in their seizure and return.
In 2020, Vysotsky signed a contract with the Armed Forces of Ukraine and joined the Mechanized Battalion of the 1st Separate Tank “Siverskaya” Brigade. He already had the experience of serving: in 2014 he received a summons and during 2014-2015 protected the country as a border guard.
– Since 2020, I have been the commander of the mechanized platoon of the 1st OTBr. Trench warfare, combat vehicles – all that is popularly called infantry. Shortly before the full-scale invasion, we returned from an almost year-long rotation in Donbas, where we held the line of defense between Volnovakha and Maryinka. There are wonderful people in Donbas, there are a lot of pro-Ukrainian people.
He says that motivation and constant self-development are important in mastering the military profession, because there is enough available literature and videos.
– In my civilian profession, I tried to perform work with maximum efficiency in order to obtain the maximum result. And for this you need to study: even if you are a lawyer, even if you are a soldier, even if you fix cars. Therefore, in military service, he tried to master everything he did not know as much as possible. By the way, I was surprised that you can watch on YouTube, for example, how to aim and shoot with the AGS-17 (Automatic rack-mounted grenade launcher – ed.) “Flame”.
There are difficult professions in the military, more difficult than others. For example, piloting a plane, adjusting artillery is quite difficult from the point of view of coordinates, knowledge, ability to calculate, and so on. But all the same: you can really learn everything if you want to.
February 24
That morning, the unit met Vysotskyi on combat duty, having received the task of defense and countering armed aggression in the direction of the west of the occupying forces from Belarus.
– We were at predetermined boundaries, from where we started somewhere at four or five in the morning. So, the beginning was met on the march towards the enemy troops. My unit and my company were probably the first to go into battle because they were the first to reach us. It was a battle around Chernigov.
According to Vysotskyi, what impressed him the most was the fighting spirit and motivation of the military and civilians.
– We hit several Russian cars, they were burning and exploding. The occupiers were killed. And each of the fighters told me: “It was me who came and hit me with aim!” “It’s me!”, “It’s me!”. I didn’t start saying that there are many hits there (smiles – ed.). That is, each fighter wanted to inflict damage on the occupier. And it is not easy: to see a person and open fire. You have to overcome yourself.
Locals helped with everything: from food, which was not provided by the rear service due to shelling, to digging trenches and collecting operational information.
– The attitude in Chernihiv was so warm! People drove hot potatoes directly to the position. They provided us with chainsaws and shovels. Locals came, dug up, left. And how much useful information was given in the first days!
I think that everything within a radius of 150 km around Kyiv is 70% the merit of people, 30% is the merit of artillery and aviation. In order to have somewhere to shoot, you need coordinates with an accuracy of one meter.
The war intensified the need for justice
It was during the defense of Chernihiv that Vysotsky was seriously wounded, which forced him to resign from the ranks of the Armed Forces in the summer of 2023 and return to work at the Prosecutor General’s Office. To the question of whether he would have joined the army if he had known about the future injury, he answers in the affirmative. Then I did everything right, and I would not change the decision. The worst thing he has experienced is the loss of his siblings.
– The hardest thing is to lose people. Because any material losses – even, no matter how scary it sounds, a broken home, destroyed cars – can be returned,