Zolotiy, the “golden man” of the Ukrainian special forces

The motto of the Ukrainian special forces is inscribed on his cap: “You don’t die more than once“. For six months, Zolotiy has been operating on enemy territory at the risk of his life. His nom de guerre means “the golden man“. He has crossed the front line about thirty times since the beginning of the war. “We sometimes go through minefields. If you could see how we go through them, it would make you laugh. We use a simple fishing rod to flush out explosives. Nothing more.”

“When you cross to the other side, the main objective is not to be detected. Either you succeed or you have to kill enemy soldiers.”

Proudly, he shows on his mobile phone a neutralized Russian tank during a recent operation, with three dead young soldiers inside. “We had planned an ambush on the path this tank usually tooksays the soldier. We fired twice with a rocket launcher so as not to damage it. The tank commander and the gunner fled. We killed them and then we got in.“

“We planted the Ukrainian flag and brought the tank back, like a trophy, to our side while crossing the enemy positions.”

A successful mission, carried out without qualms even if it there are times when nothing goes as planned and where the slightest approximation can be expensive. “We had just taken a village, we were cleaning up the place but we didn’t really respect the safety rulessays Zolotiy. The Russians were waiting for us. They were shooting with a rocket launcher. A friend of mine was killed instantly, before my eyes. I panicked but pulled myself together.”

“I am not afraid now. I will fight to the last bullet for my fallen comrades.”

At the start of the war, Zolotiy’s unit numbered 23 men. From the starting workforce, they are now only five. But this fighter claims for his only unit 120 enemies killed and about twenty machines destroyed.