While the counter-offensive in Ukraine “is not advancing so quickly” according to the authorities, the hardest thing on the front is maintaining the morale of the troops. The Ukrainian lieutenant Sergei Kozachinski wants to sell the recovered objects to the Russians and hopes to raise money to buy equipment.
When the 35th Naval Infantry Brigade was able to recover a few hundred meters on the front line, in the Donetsk region, the Ukrainian lieutenant Sergey Kozachinsky had only to bend down to pick up trophies: a shell and the a Russian soldier’s satchel still full of personal items. These findings on the front gave the lieutenant an idea when he must continue to motivate his men even if the counter-offensive is still advancing very slowly, at the cost of heavy human losses.
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Among the belongings found, there is also a helmet from the Second World War pierced with a huge hole. “It’s like a tin can. The craziest thing for me is his military nickname: ‘Adolf’, like Adolf Hitler. They say that in Ukraine we are Nazis, fascists… But people who came to our territory are fanatics of Nazi ideology. They mix everything up. Their brains have turned to mush.”describes Lt.
Sergei Kozachinsky would like to do something positive with these war prizes: “Our army needs ammunition, drones, Starlink satellites… We could organize an auction of these trophies and donate to the brigade to have one or two additional drones. That would help us in our work.”
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Maintaining the morale of his men after more than 500 days of war is now his priority. Sergei Kozachinsky, despite his dark circles, keeps smiling and communicates good news as soon as he can, such as the recent announcement of deliveries of cluster munitions. “Maybe it will scare the Russians, he hopes. That will make them think. If after that they decide to stay, they must know what they will face.”
The officer recognizes despite everything that without the additional ammunition of the Westerners, the game will be difficult: “If they stop, we lost”. This is all the more true as it becomes complicated on the ground to replace the soldiers that the counter-offensive has put out of play.
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“People are afraid of war, they try to get out of it, to avoid it… But if you don’t want to hold arms, help in the rear, work, pay taxes, donate, in In this case, we can all win quickly”, calls the lieutenant. Sergei Kozachinsky’s family decided to lead by example. His wife and 13-year-old son, refugees in Poland, will be back in September.
Listen to the report by Isabelle Labeyrie and Gilles Gallinaro
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