“You can die without firing a shot” : this is how Nicolas tells what he qualifies as “dirty war” in Ukraine. The Franc-Comtois, who joined the ranks of Ukrainian fighters in March, agreed to tell franceinfo about his daily life, and confides his desire to stay “until the end of the war”.
You can listen to his testimony right here.
Nicolas, Frenchman who has been fighting in Ukraine since March, testifies at the microphone of franceinfo
to listen
“Once the Russians have fired their volleys, they leave. And you stay there, like an idiot, in the trench with your shovel, your Kalashnikov. And then the lack of food, no drinking water… is a dirty warsays the Frenchman. There are the dead every day, there are the injured every day, there is breakage every day.”
Like Nicolas, several French people went to fight in Ukraine, around 150 according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. One of them died on Friday June 3. It is known that he had joined the International Legion and was in the Kharkiv region. The 32-year-old man was “mortally wounded in the fighting”said the Quai d’Orsay in a press release. “Obviously, it makes you think”admits Nicolas, who insists on another aspect “terrible” of the war of which “we do not speak” : The wounded.
“I went to a military hospital to see a brother in arms. The number of people who are amputated, who have their arms at least, their legs missing… It’s terrible. The artillery tears the bodies to pieces. “
Nicolas, Frenchman left to fight in Ukraineat franceinfo
“It’s Verdun with the technology of 2022says the Frenchman again. Sometimes, in a unit, there may only be one or two dead but there will be five guys who are dismembered. The hospitals are full of them.” But that does not discourage the one who left for Ukraine three months ago now and who thinks of staying “until the end of the war”. “Now what is victory? When is the end of the war?”asks the Frenchman.
“As long as there are kids dying for nothing, you have to stay there”assures the Frenchman. “There are fathers, people who have wives who are waiting for them and tell them to come home for the children, who leave their skin behind. I don’t have any, so it’s normal for me to be there”concludes Nicolas.