Palmistry 

How to volunteer for the army. Recruitment of volunteers in the army of New Russia. Contacts, conditions, guarantees. Do you need girls

The military registration and enlistment office of the NOD (DPR) is recruiting for the First Slavic Brigade:

Recruitment criteria: who served in the Armed Forces in motorized rifle troops and have a higher educational institution:
. Mechanic-driver of the armored personnel carrier, infantry fighting vehicle;
. Machine gunner;
. grenade launcher;
. Operator-gunner AGS.

Full and detailed information can be obtained by phone numbers:
+38-099-445-63-78;
From 09:00 to 18:00 Moscow time

For everyone else: the recruitment of VOLUNTEERS into the ranks of the Armed Forces of the Donetsk Republic is carried out in the local branches of the military commissariat of the Donetsk Republic.

Mobilization age from 18 to 55 years.

Citizens of the Donetsk Republic (Novorossiya) should apply to the military commissariats at the place of registration/residence.

Citizens of the Russian Federation, the countries of the Eurasian Union, and also citizens who have a passport of the Ukrainian state and arrive in the Donetsk Republic (Novorossiya) from the territory controlled by the junta, contact any military commissariat of the Donetsk Republic.

All those accepted for military service are guaranteed clothing and food security, timely payment of a decent monetary allowance.

For more information, please contact the phone numbers:

Department of the VC DPR for Kiev, Voroshilovsky and Kalininsky districts of Donetsk: st. Sobinova 2a,
+38-062-257-35-00;

Department of the Military Commission of the DPR for the Proletarsky and Budyonnovsky districts of Donetsk: st. Kuprin 270,
+38-062-263-70-66, +38-062-263-70-66;

Department of the VC DPR for Petrovsky and Kuibyshevsky districts of Donetsk: st. Kuprin 270,
+38-062-313-03-67;

Department of the Military Commissariat of the DPR for the Central City District of Makeevka:
+38-062-322-25-20;

Department of the VC DPR for the Soviet district of Makeevka:
+38-062-323-03-02;

Department of the Military Commissariat of the DPR for the Chervonogvardeisky district of Makeevka:
+38-062-324-15-46;

Department of the Military Commissariat of the DPR in Khartsyzsk: +38-062-577-55-52;

Department of the VC DNR in Gorlovka: +38-062-424-22-50;

Department of the DPR Military Commission for Yenakiyevo: +38-062-525-32-58;

Department of the DPR VC in Shakhtersk: +38-062-554-23-15;

Department of the DPR Military Commission for the Snezhnyansko-Torez district: +38-062-565-30-40;

Department of the DPR Military Commission for the Starobeshevsky District: +38-062-535-10-54;

Department of the Military Commission of the DPR for the Novoazovsko-Telmanovsky district: +38-062-963-14-42;

Department of the VC DPR for the Amvrosievsky district: +38-062-592-21-91.

PS: Citizens of the Russian Federation and countries of the Eurasian Union:
You need to get to Rostov-on-Don on your own and then, from the bus station, by direct bus from Rostov-on-Don (RF) - Donetsk (Donetsk Republic, Novorossiya), arrive in Donetsk.

The entire border of the Russian Federation with the Donetsk Republic, as well as the entire territory from the border of the Russian Federation to the city of Donetsk (Donetsk Republic, Novorossiya) is under the complete control of the Armed Forces of Novorossiya!

Draw your attention to!!!

The right of a citizen to leave the territory of the Russian Federation may be temporarily restricted if:
. The citizen's identity card (passport) is invalid;
. Performing military or alternative civilian service;
. Suspected, accused or convicted of an offense or crime;
. Avoids obligations imposed by the court or has debts: fines, loans, taxes, alimony, etc.;
For ALL disputes about crossing the border - you must contact
FMS (http://www.fms.gov.ru/) and FSSP (http://fssprus.ru/iss/ip/).
You go to us ONLY after you resolve your conflict issues. Crossing the border of the Russian Federation ONLY "in white" - legally!

LPR military registration and enlistment offices are located in the following cities:

Lugansk
- Alchevsk
- Krasnodon
- Rovenki

The ongoing military conflict in the east of Ukraine since the beginning of 2014 still attracts the attention of millions of people, including residents of other states. And they certainly have a lot of questions to which there are many answers. It is rather difficult to understand which of them is true, since information usually comes from sources related to one of the conflicting parties. Journal I.Q. Review tried to take a neutral attitude to the problem and give answers to the most important questions about the civil war in Ukraine: who is fighting in the Donbass, how people live in the DPR and LPR today, what the Donbass militias are fighting and how much they are paid for it. Our correspondent Denis visited the ATO zone and is transmitting fresh reports from the Novorossiya front.

Who is involved in the conflict in Ukraine?

There are two (officially) parties to the conflict: these are the Armed Forces of Novorossia (AFN) and their constituent formations, on the one hand, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) and several volunteer battalions (some of which are on the front line, the rest are located on the territory of the country), with another. In fact, if you go deeper, the answer will turn out to be much more multifaceted.

The parties to the conflict are different, but similar

Who is fighting in the Donbass

Firstly, on both sides there are a considerable number of mercenaries- people for whom war is a job. For the most part, these are people who have managed to take part in military clashes (from Iraq to Chechnya) that have occurred in recent years. Also, these are those who do not yet have “real” experience, but have served in the army and want to earn money in this way (most often, of course, these are people from low-income segments of the population).

Secondly, on both sides there are participants who were brought into the trenches by ideology. Some came to defend the Ukrainian land from "Russian aggression", others - to eradicate "the resurgent Ukrainian fascism". “I want to fight for the Donbass” is a very real desire of many Russians, mostly young people, and people really went for the idea. They came and agreed to join the militia on the spot - it's not so difficult, people are always needed there. Some Donbass militias from Russia then returned home disabled (or did not return at all).

And finally, on both sides there are enough of those who simply decided to radically change their lives. Usually these are those close people, as well as those who have some problems with the law. There are those (albeit a little) who take up arms just to get a thrill - these can be successful people with a large family.

Why do people go to fight in the Donbass

Separately, it should be said about motivation. On the part of the BCH, the vast majority are strongly motivated. This is both the local population, which simply protects their homes, and people coming here from various countries (mercenaries, to put it bluntly). They are driven not only and not so much by a thirst for profit (after all, you can’t earn millions there, but you can stay in the ground with a high probability), but by some principles and beliefs.

Things are quite different in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the formations defending the interests of the current government. After the mobilization (there were several waves), the ranks of the army were replenished with a fairly large number of those who do not want to fight (including those who were born or lived in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions). Those who really wanted to took up arms at the beginning of the conflict, so the vast majority of recruits are "random" people, and they could even get into the Armed Forces of Ukraine under duress streets).


Ukrainian patch on the uniform

Think for yourself: what motivation and desire to fight can they have? Of course, as long as the conflict is frozen and at least a conditional truce is maintained, such people can serve their military service relatively calmly. But with the outbreak of hostilities, such tactics by Kyiv may not lead to the result it is counting on.

How is life now for people living on the territory of the republics of the LPR and DPR?

It goes without saying that the war, as well as the economic blockade of the territories occupied by the republics, could not have a positive effect on their population. By the way, many people simply left their homes: some of them went to Russia (temporarily or with the aim of staying there for a long time, up to obtaining citizenship), a part (smaller) - to the territory controlled by Ukraine.

The worst hit were those who held not very important positions (managers, bank employees, service workers), as well as those who worked in closed enterprises. Such people are the majority: in fact, teachers, doctors, the military (of course), (those who are somehow involved in serving the military forces) remain in business for the time being. These categories of the population live an order of magnitude better: they receive a salary (in Russian rubles, although not too large, but relatively stable), food, clothing.

By the way, “dry law” applies everywhere for military personnel, which cannot be said about the Armed Forces of Ukraine and battalions (reports periodically slip through the news about rampant drunkenness in the Ukrainian ranks, and about incidents arising on this basis).

However, the ordinary population (those who remained) are not allowed to die of starvation. Regularly arriving humanitarian convoys are, in fact, the only aid without which it would be extremely difficult for the republics.

Of course, the residents of the DPR and LPR live almost from hand to mouth, many have lost their houses and apartments and were forced to move. In this regard, everything is simple now: there are a lot of free housing in cities. You can not . On the contrary, property owners who leave are even ready to pay those who agree to live in their apartments - otherwise they can either be robbed or borrowed.

Not only food is lacking: problems are also observed in the medical field - lack of medicines, qualified personnel, equipment. This was especially keenly felt during the period of aggravation of the conflict - when a large number of wounded of varying severity were received almost daily.

The economy of Donbass actually died today. In 2015, industry and any movement of the economy in the republics practically stopped. Some shops are open, most of them grocery stores, on the shelves of which there are only necessary products at inflated (even higher than in Moscow) prices. Coal is mined and stored - the land for "black gold" is very rich, and even Ukraine buys it from the republics (which, by the way, is now experiencing serious problems with fuel).

Who and why supplies the militias with money, weapons, food and equipment?

Naturally, tens of thousands of people who participate in the Ukrainian conflict on the side of the NAF should be supplied, and well supplied. Weapons (and not only "Kalash") and ammunition for it, equipment, spare parts and ammunition for it, fuels and lubricants and fuel, equipment, clothing, protective equipment, medicines, food, and just money - for the "salary" of the military and state employees... Of course, there were warehouses in the republics, and combat units from the territories that are now occupied by the Ukrainian army were drawn here, but there is simply nowhere to renew stocks for almost six months.

So the answer suggests itself: militia forces are financed and supplied from outside, and are supplied seriously. The only possible "sponsor" is the Russian Federation. Of course, the state budget is unlikely to contain an article on "financial and material assistance to the NAF", and it is unlikely that anyone will ever admit this openly. However, help - regular and substantial - is definitely on the way. It goes without saying that no one will transfer serious equipment and modern developments to the militia forces - this would immediately indicate the obvious participation of the Russian Federation.

Moscow OMON officer on condition of anonymity:

“All of our experienced employees were offered business trips to Novorossia. Business trips are very well paid, the boys bought themselves an apartment in Moscow in a year. But I refused, money can't buy another life. Everything is purely voluntary and secret, of course.”

The reasons for such "sponsorship" can be found a huge number. First of all, it is the unwillingness to have a hostile state at hand. At the moment, the DPR and LPR play the role of a kind of buffer. In addition, over time, when the conflict begins to smooth out (most likely - not in a year or two) - these territories can be annexed, like Crimea.

Another important factor is the political side of the issue. For practically the whole world (USA, Europe), militia forces personify Russia. And the failures (and even more so - the complete defeat) of Novorossia in the eyes of millions of people are the failures of Russia - which is a blow to the "image" of the country.

How much do militiamen and military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Donbass get paid

Only absolutely “frostbitten” or ardent patriots and nationalists go for just risking their lives and killing other people. Much more significant motivation for the participants in the conflict (on both sides) is money. For different structures, the “salary” can be different, and it can differ significantly. Let's try to figure out which of the military gets how much.

Military salaries in Ukraine in 2015

To begin with, here is a list for those who are involved in the conflict on the Ukrainian side:

  • private of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: about 3000-3300 UAH (at the current exchange rate - a little more than 9000 rubles);
  • private of the National Guard: about 5000-6000 UAH (at the current exchange rate - 15-18 thousand rubles);
  • junior officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: about UAH 6,000 (18,000 rubles);
  • battalion private: from 4,000 UAH (12,000 rubles).

The above amounts may differ from the actual, and significantly. It depends on:

The battalion in which the fighter serves (financing is different for everyone, respectively - and different salaries);

Locations where the formation is located (additional bonuses are awarded on the front line);

Completion of the task (for this, additional bonuses are required).

There are also problems with payments - due to the hustle and bustle that reigns in the General Staff (as well as because of), salaries are often delayed or paid in installments.

DPR militia salaries*

Those who serve in the Armed Forces of Novorossia are paid an order of magnitude better:

  • rank and file: from 50,000 rubles;
  • officers: from 80,000 - 90,000 rubles;
  • soldiers with real combat experience (who previously participated in military conflicts, as well as those who have a sought-after specialty): from 80,000 rubles.

*Data obtained by interviewing militias and local residents

We are Donbass (video)

Military correspondent "KP" Alexander Kots met with former militias who fought for the "Russian world" in the DPR and LPR. Were they able to find themselves in a peaceful life and is the state grateful to them? [broadcast]

Change text size: A A

sniper journalist

Evening. Call from an unknown number: “Sasha, hello! This is Deki. How are you? Will you give me an interview about military journalism?” I'm trying to connect what I heard in a logical chain. Deki is the call sign of the legendary Serbian volunteer Dejan from Donbass.

Volunteers from Donbass: were they able to find themselves in a peaceful life and is the state grateful to them?

The last time we saw each other "on zero" (the neutral zone between the armies of the DPR and Ukraine) last year. With his "Donchanka" (a powerful rifle of local production), he pacified the "Right Sectors" who got into the habit of making noise at night (the organization "Right Sector" is banned in the Russian Federation - ed.). A couple of biting shots from this weapon were enough for silence to reign on the other side - bad dumb.

Dejan Beric became not only the "most useful" sniper in Donbass. A modest, charming, sympathetic guy fell in love with the locals. Yes, and among journalists, he was popular, he never refused a conversation. And then all of a sudden, "will you give an interview?". "It's interesting, - I think, - the former militias are developing a peaceful life."

There is only one bullet, but the word immediately affects thousands of people. - Deki meets me in a small studio of the Internet project PolitRussia. But I don't take money for it. My friends and I, also volunteers, work at a construction site.

Deyan went to Donbass for ideological reasons:

This is the duty of the Russians. We had a lot of volunteers from Russia during the war in Yugoslavia. So they called to return the favor.

- It turns out, returned?

Health no longer allows to fight further - so many wounds. One bullet went through the stomach, one through the chest, at Saur-Mogila seven bullets hit the bulletproof vest, the ribs cracked. Then the Ukrainians captured me with a column of wounded. Then my colleagues bought me out. The problem is, I've never made it to the end. I just started to faint. I had to leave for treatment. Now he's on painkillers all the time.

- Is it difficult to adapt to civilian life?

No. I didn't live in war. And he advised the fighters: he finished his shift, he came home from the front line, leave the war behind the threshold. It's good to have a family. I did not have, but I came to the orphanage. Helped as much as he could. There are 20 children there, I have three godchildren there... I never got adrenaline from the war. On my fishing trip, when it bites, my hands are shaking - that's adrenaline. And if you get it from the war, you won't be able to go into civilian life.

Returned to another country

According to the most conservative estimates, about 50 thousand Russians went through the war in the LDNR. And in their homeland they disappeared. Many of those who, as Dejan Beric says, lived in war, went to private military companies. They also pay well there. And someone returned to a new reality.

I went to Slavyansk from the Crimea, where I had a construction business. He returned, but the laws are already different, the legal framework, the bureaucracy ... It is difficult to start over, - Viktor Anosov, with the call sign Nos, admits.

He is perhaps the last living of the first commanders of the Donbass militia. He started as a platoon commander and eventually led the commandant's regiment. But he decided to return home. Attempted assassination and kidnapping by the special services of Ukraine also had an impact. Both wife and daughter, who managed to get married during the war.


I'm sorry to complain. He returned to the post of deputy commander of the self-defense regiment of the Crimea. This regiment includes those who defended the peninsula in 2014. There are also guys who fought in the Donbass. We are engaged in the protection of state property, patrolling.

- Do you often remember Donbass?

Well, of course. Dreaming often. No, to grab a wife by the throat, this does not happen. But dreams are such that at least shoot films - ready-made scripts. Still, he went through a lot, and friends were dying in his arms ...

post-war syndrome

The main flow of volunteers returning from Donbass to Russia occurred in 2015-2016. With the end of active fighting, most of the militias considered their mission accomplished.

Law enforcement officers, by analogy with veterans of wars in Afghanistan and Chechnya, were waiting for a surge in crime with those who returned from the Donbass. However, there was no crime epidemic. The most popular article on which former militias came across was illegal arms trafficking. Some could not resist the temptation to bring home a combat "souvenir". But there are few of them in general.

There is a serious problem in psychology. Most of the volunteers left for the Donbass on a patriotic upsurge after the Crimea: Russia is getting up from its knees, now we will show everyone! And many, of course, felt like a part of an organism that creates real history, another friend, a former militiaman, now the head of the security service of a large company, tells me. - But when they return, they again become nobody with a whole set of everyday problems that they have lost the habit of. And those around them do not care about these problems. Yes, and the state withdrew from them. Although these are real patriots. And with good combat experience. I will take someone I know and whom I trust. Basically, people get jobs through acquaintances - in security or at a construction site. But, faced with general indifference, bureaucracy, unwillingness to get involved with a "mercenary beaten off his head", someone becomes an inveterate drunkard, and someone returns back to the war.

Three years ago, the Union of Donbass Volunteers appeared in Russia, designed to help former militias. But due to modest resources, he, of course, cannot help everyone. But he has already organized treatment for 3.5 thousand wounded, provided various assistance to 400 families of the victims ... Every month, the Union of Volunteers sends 20 to 30 people suffering from post-traumatic syndrome to psychologists. But perhaps the most important assistance is legal.

Many militias are citizens of Ukraine. They left for Russia, brought their families here so that they would not be persecuted. And many have problems with the migration services. There are cases when they try to extradite volunteers to Ukraine, where they are threatened with prison, - Maria Koleda, deputy head of the apparatus of the Union of Volunteers, tells me. - We were able to prevent about 600 attempts of such deportation of former militias.


Veterans without status

The first and main problem of “foreigner” volunteers in Russia is the seven circles of bureaucratic hell for legalization on the territory of the Russian Federation and official employment, agrees former militiaman Alexander Zhuchkovsky. - The second problem is that in Russia there are queues of Russian citizens themselves for decently paid vacancies. And immigrants from the Donbass are no longer dear guests, but competitors. A chance to find a decent job is either for some unique specialists, or for promoted, famous militias, who are happy to accept employers who are not indifferent to the fate of Donbass.

- Where are the others going?

Forced to accept unskilled labor. A typical story of one of my colleagues who fought in Slavyansk as a sniper. He hails from occupied Starobilsk. He lives in Moscow with his wife and child, earns 50 thousand rubles a month on private apartment renovations, half of which he spends on renting a one-room apartment on the outskirts, the remaining 25 thousand is barely enough to live on. At the same time, he himself is an excellent cameraman with great experience. But who needs him on Moscow TV? And there are hundreds of such people. Not just refugees, but war heroes who defended the independence of Donbass. They rightly count on state assistance and have been waiting for at least some changes for years. Such changes, firstly, should be to make it easier for them to live in the Russian Federation and obtain Russian citizenship. And secondly, obtaining the status of combat veterans with the entitlement benefits.

ESSENTIALLY

What is the Donbas brotherhood?

Oleksandr BORODAI, Chairman of the Union of Donbass Volunteers:

He is between 30 and 50 years old. Even before the Donbass, there was experience of military service or even military operations - from Afghanistan to South Ossetia. Possibly a former law enforcement officer. In the most general terms, this is the average portrait of a Russian volunteer who passed through the Donbass (not to be confused with a militia - a native of the Donbass, who literally defended his own hut).

The views of the volunteers are very different: red, white, National Bolsheviks, ultra-right. But necessarily the patriots of Russia. The geography of settlement is bizarre. Most often it is a Muscovite or St. Petersburg, which is not surprising. Further, the Crimeans-you can also understand. But the next one is the Far East. It turned out to be the call of blood. Back in the Stolypin times, many residents of Slobozhanshchina (a historical region at the junction of Russia and Ukraine. - Ed.) were relocated to the Pacific Ocean. Many have Ukrainian surnames. They remember their native land.

Many people compare "Donbass" with "Chechens" and "Afghans". But there is an important difference. The government gave instructions to people to go to Afghanistan and Chechnya. Everyone went to Donbass on their own. The Donbas brotherhood is, sorry for the pathos, the quintessence of Russian passionarity. I would say that this is a commonality that must be reckoned with.

Already today in the regions there are entire organizations created entirely from volunteers from Donbass. Rescue teams, for example. Or private security agencies. People who have been sitting in neighboring trenches for more than one month continue to support and pull each other in civilian life. This is absolutely normal.

Any war changes people. From the Donbass, people return to Russia as determined patriots of their land. None of them got rich in the war. But, despite all their problems (especially in a poor province), few of them will disappear without a trace.

Recorded by Alexey IVANOV.

ANOTHER OPINION

Zakhar PRILEPIN, former deputy battalion commander of the special forces of the DPR army:

Adult men don't need to be looked after.

To go to war as a volunteer and to believe that then the state should provide you with something is strange. We understand that we live in an egoistic world, where man is a wolf to man. And it's the same in every other area. I just spoke to the students of VGIK, I know the situation at the Literary Institute, but take any university - 70 - 80% of graduates cannot get a job. And the state does not provide them with anything either. God forbid that it looks after pensioners, the disabled and orphans. And the state should not look after adult men.

According to personal observations of the guys from my battalion, I don’t see any broken destinies, I don’t meet them drunk on the street, as in films about the Civil War ... Who was a good fighter, stable, strong, militant, he normally settles in life . And whoever served through a stump-deck, then there is nothing special to expect from him in civilian life.

On the other hand, a person who has returned from the war, from some injustice of the social structure, begins to destroy and break everything around. Especially when idealistic convictions were the basis of his actions, and here at every step he meets small-grass bestiality ...

And yet, people who have gone through the rapid Crimean history, the longer Donbass history and have become an example of real masculine behavior for a huge number of Russians, could be given the appropriate status. Why don't MPs think about it?

“There are enough people who want to go to Donbass. This week alone, 30 people left as volunteers from the Russian Community of Crimea.” According to Yuri, everyone who wants to go through the commission first: “They don’t send them there if they are in poor health. Choose physically hardy people. They are warned in advance that they will not be paid anything, only food. Therefore, the majority are ideological. Many who travel to Donbass have relatives, friends or acquaintances there. But I will say that many people travel alone and do not go through commissions. Until recently, until the cordon was opened in the Lugansk region, it was problematic to cross the border. People don't go through Chongar now. They go mainly through the Rostov region, through Taganrog and further across the border of Donbass. They are fired upon if spotted from helicopters. Mostly Crimean volunteers go to the Luhansk region. In the Donetsk region - a little. There, Girkin in Slavyansk, they say, has super-fighters, whom he almost personally selects.

Of course, there are also diametrically opposite cases. “From our VVshnikov, several people joined the National Guard,” says Yuri. - They have families left here who are “on heartburn”. It is clear that these VVshniki will not come here any more - their way is ordered. The families don't want to leave. And this family is not alone here.

The wife of a fighter who went to the Donbass from Simferopol told Reporter that her husband left for the Donbass after the May holidays. “Our aunt and her husband live in Slavyansk, and we have friends. My husband - a former policeman - watched the battles for the city on TV and decided to drop everything and go to the Donbass with a friend. He was in the Crimea from the first days in self-defense. I tried to dissuade me for a long time, even sobbed, but he said that he would leave anyway, and left. He threw me a power of attorney to receive his pension and left. He told me that through Kerch he got to the Kuban, and then to the Rostov region. They crossed the border with difficulty. Caught in heavy crossfire. Either the border guards noticed them, or the National Guard. Their whole group of militias gathered there, about 25 people, there were also some Russians. One was killed during a shootout. Two were hurt. A day later we got to Slavyansk. The husband said that Girkin's assistants studied their entire biography, one was generally sent home, and several were sent to Lugansk, who had no combat experience. Andrew rarely calls. But he says that there are such meat grinders that you don’t know whether you will survive after the battle or not. They don't get paid any money. They were warned about it right away. Although my husband said that he saw how some fighters from another unit were given dollars, they said that this was for some kind of internal costs.

Earlier, the leaders of the Donetsk People's Republic again announced the mobilization of volunteers into the ranks of the militia. This is the third appeal of the DPR to the civilian population with a request to join the ranks of the rebels over the past month.

"The formation of militia combat groups from all patriots who have experience, health and courage is carried out on the square in front of the Government House (the former building of the Regional State Administration)," the press service of the DPR reports.

And he adds that volunteers should have an identity card, a supply of food for one day and comfortable clothes with them.

We asked him why he went, who the militias are, how they fight, and how it will all end.

How did you get into the war?

- Why did you go?

Tired of watching TV, pushing through the sofa and feeling sorry for everyone. I decided that I could be useful, and went.

- Wasn't it scary?

How was it not? Of course it's scary.

- But it's very stupid - like this to die.

And is it smart?

- Do you have any relatives in those parts?

No, nobody. It's just that there are Russian people, they speak and think in Russian. And they are forced ... not to do this. I thought this: if I can, I should help.

- And how did you get in touch with the militias?

On the Internet, type: "Russian volunteers." There are people who help to get there. I wrote to them and got a reply. I filled out a questionnaire: age, education, criminal record, connection with radical organizations. And after about a week the issue was resolved. I bought tickets, equipment and went.

- In terms of? Myself?

Of course, volunteers are not paid. So there everyone fights as best they can. You can wear sweatpants, or you can be equipped like an American paratrooper. I bought a regular camouflage suit.

- Where should you have arrived?

In the city of Donetsk, Rostov region. You arrive, call the agreed number, call your callsign, hear the feedback. A person comes and transports you across the border, no problem (entry to Ukraine for Russian men under 60 is prohibited. - Ed.). We got to the base, from there we were dismantled by the unit commanders.

- Are they military?

Yes, what military. Same militias. They told me: “Do you want to serve in the reconnaissance company?” I answer: “What kind of scout am I?” They say to me: "Come on, let's go and have a look." True, the company turned out to be a reconnaissance platoon.

How to fight?

- Brought - and what?

And fight. There are no training centers there, no special training, no course for a young fighter. Yesterday's workers, teachers, miners, drivers from Donetsk, Gorlovka are fighting. For 80 people, we had one professional military man, and that ensign. They gave me a carbine. So I became a spy.

- What does it mean in practice?

You see, this is not the kind of war that they show - with battles, advances and retreats. This war (like any, probably) is 95% rough work: you have to go to posts, to outfits, to reconnaissance, to be an observer. For example, we are told: in that direction there is a certain enemy group and equipment. We need to check if this is the case. At night, people get up and go into the forest, studying the tracks.

- Does it look like the game "Zarnitsa"?

This is a terrible game. You go at night through the territory controlled by the enemy. The trail may be mined, and ours were blown up. They can shoot from these or those bushes. An ambush is possible behind the trees. The tension is really terrible. There were even cases when two reconnaissance militias went to the same place at night and fired at each other, mistaking for the enemy. They simply did not coordinate their actions, there is such a mess. So the main thing in the war is a routine: from outfit to outfit, you do not have time to eat or sleep.

- Outfit is peeling potatoes?

The outfit is "sit on the button", for example. What does it mean? The road is mined, and we know that a Ukrainian tank or some heavy equipment will drive along it. Your task is to sit, wait and connect the wires at the right time to blow up the car.

- Wiring? Like in 1941?

Yes, that's right, the old fashioned way. You can’t press a button from a phone, because Ukrainians jam electronic signals. I sat and waited like this several times. Luckily, I never waited.

- Fortunately?

Yes, because many of these assignments do not return.

- The car explodes there, far away?

Not so far - a hundred meters. You have to see what is going there, make sure that the enemy, that he ran into a mine. Okay, if it's a tank. And if the Grad multiple launch rocket system, it scatters for half a kilometer and covers anyone who is sitting there. I was lucky that I did not wait for anyone while I sat in the pit for 15 hours.

- Wow. Did you sit still?

Well, how about. You can't disguise. No toilet, no leaning out, no phone call.

Who is in charge?

- Are there many volunteers from Russia?

Out of 80 people, we had four Russians: a former sports functionary, a cabinet maker, a teacher, and me, a journalist. There was another guy from Novosibirsk, he found a bottle of vodka, got drunk, and was kicked out.

- Can't you drink?

Of course not. For this, they can be shot.

- For a bottle of vodka?

There were cases - shot. There is a dry law, and rightly so, everyone agrees with this. Otherwise, everyone would have shot each other a long time ago.

- And you poured a hundred grams before the fight?

Of course not.

- Come on.

You know, there are even without a hundred grams ... Half of the losses are from the fact that their own cripple their own. Well, they don't know how to handle weapons! Here is a mortar, who was a driver or a salesman, he took this mortar for the first time in his life, put two mines into the barrel - the gun tore apart and destroyed the entire crew. Or another guy forgot to unload the machine gun, in which the cartridge remained, pressed at an unnecessary moment ... There are a lot of such losses.

- And who commands the militias?

This is a mystery to me too. They fight like partisans. I arrived in July, and it was wild for me that they had not been smashed so far, because there was zero coordination. Each village has its own detachment headed by its own ataman, who obeys few people. This is such a war. Night raids, raids on a column, on a checkpoint - they shot, they captured something, that's success.

- But who determines the strategy?

Maybe. Now the detachments are uniting into brigades, commanders are appearing, weapons are being brought in.

- Where is the weapon from?

From warehouses.

- From what?

I do not know. I admit that these are warehouses of the Russian army, the Soviet army, the Ukrainian army.

- And what time weapons?

My first carbine - 1954. I have seen people fighting with an anti-tank rifle with the year 1943 stamped on it. After the carbine, they gave me a sniper rifle without an optical sight. Terribly uncomfortable when you have to climb on the green. There are such forests - just thickets, you cut into them - and that's it, you got up, you can't move either to the right or to the left. Some kind of jungle, did not expect from Ukraine. And most importantly - everything is prickly! Then they issued a machine gun, it is more convenient with it. Recently, weapons have become normal. It began to arrive brand new, in lubrication.

- Our help?

Well, how else to explain? Not the Americans. But everything else is still bad. That's basic food. People leave in the morning for fasting - slurp borscht without meat. At lunch they will warm up the same borscht, and in the evening it will be the same.

- And who delivers the products?

They take it from the warehouse, and the warehouse is replenished at the expense of humanitarian aid. And there, first, as I suspect, rear services are provided, and then it comes to those who are at war. The local population is trying to help, of course, they bring potatoes, pickles, but what are two jars of pickles and even a bag of potatoes for 80 people? Weakly and with clothing contentment.

- You've equipped yourself.

I myself, I'm from Russia. And 95% are locals, they have been fighting for a long time, they retreated many times, they lost all their things. Their clothes are what they are wearing, and that's it. They wash it like this: they entered in clothes in rates (this is their pond), went out, soaped themselves - and dived again. He bathed himself and washed his clothes. Thankfully it's warm in August. And if you are in an outfit "on the button" - you are sleeping on the bare ground, sitting motionless, there are not even tourist foams. We need sleeping bags, warm jackets... I came home with the idea of ​​collecting such a humanitarian cargo. I know exactly what is needed. I want to help my specific unit - so that it comes directly into their hands, targeted.

Continuation - in the next issue of AiF-Chelyabinsk and on the website