Pay With Blood For A Lack of Iron - April 30th 2024

April 30th 2024

Yuriy reflects on surviving the brutal realities of war in Ukraine, highlighting the devastating losses and the haunting presence of overcrowded cemeteries. 

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TRANSCRIPT: (Apple Podcasts & Podbean app users can enjoy accurate closed captions)

 It is April 30. 

I met a guy of whom we stood in line to enlist in the Army on the second day of the full scale invasion. He was greatly surprised because as it turned out, there are very few of us- those we are in service from the first days -who are still alive today. He said straight out, "look, we are still alive even for we were going to die back when we had almost no chance of survival and yet here we are." 

Indeed, looking back, you realize that we really walked on the edge, that through bloodbath of the first months of war we were pulled only by a miracle. And for some reason it was us and not the hours. A couple of days after meeting this guy, I was at a cemetery. It was the anniversary of a death of a person from the unit where I now serve. The cemetery is not in the largest city of Ukraine and there are entire alleys of graves of people killed by Russians since 2022. 

I cannot convey with feelings, this despair when you see endless graves of very young guys and girls, who were buried only because with stupid Russian fuhrer decided to destroy Ukrainians and his spineless slaves went to carry out his senseless desire of an old idiot. 

Every day, several war dead are buried in this cemetery, and I repeat, this is far from the largest city and this is not the only cemetery in it. It's so painful, it's almost unbearable, and this unbearable feeling grows more and more. I understand that the war could last for years. That means for years the size of cemeteries will grow. For years, the number of widow and orphans will increase. 

We won't lose, we won't retreat, we have nowhere to retreat. We either win or simply disappear and we don't want to disappear, but what to do with this feeling of horror from overcrowded cemeteries, from crying mothers and children? I don't know. For everyone lucky enough to survive over war and see peace, it'll be difficult because of understanding of the price of victory. 

God, how many people could have been saved, how many parents would have returned to their children? How many destinies would not have been ruined? If we had enough modern weapons, if it were the Russians, not us, who hit every day from a missile attacks and airstrikes. But unfortunately, this did not happen. And for the lack of iron, the best of us have to pay with blood. Pay literally, with the future of Ukraine, young guys and girls, brave and smart.