“Severodonetsk was Mordor”: the chilling story of a Ukrainian battalion commander

The bearded colossus speaks in a calm and gentle voice, and envelops you with his deep gaze. After several weeks of intense and deadly fighting in the city of Severodonetsk, in the Donbass, from which the Ukrainians ended up withdrawing in the face of a deluge of Russian artillery, Volodymyr Rashyk, soon to be 35, is spending a few days in kyiv to have his by a doctor a large wound in the forearm caused by a sniper shot; and to attend the funeral of one of his comrades in arms. Originally from the city of Mariupol, he was still an actor a few months ago, and had no military experience. He is now at the head of a unit of 142 men.

In a cafe in downtown kyiv, on June 27, he recounts while smoking cigarette after cigarette the crimes against humanity he witnessed in Irpin and Boutcha; and the horror of the fighting in the East. He got married a few weeks ago with his partner – who has volunteered for national defense and accompanies him during the interview. As if she wanted to enjoy every minute of his presence. Volodymyr is in a hurry: to return to the front as soon as he can, to defend the city of Lyssytchansk, near Severodonetsk, and a new target for the Russians in the Donbass. Testimony.

The decision to take up arms

“My profession, before the war, was to be an actor. I had worked for 17 years for the national theater of kyiv, but also for the cinema – I appear in particular in the French film Revenge of the Glitter Shrimp, released this year. But on February 24, the day the Russian aggression against our country began, I did not hesitate: I volunteered to join the army. I was first sent to Brovary, east of kyiv, then to Irpin and Boutcha, near the capital. Afterwards, I enlisted in the Svoboda battalion – a word which means “freedom” – and I went to the East, to the Donbass, as a member of the National Guard of Ukraine.

I had this idea in mind since 2014 – the year Crimea was annexed by Russia and the start of the Donbass war – but my partner – who recently became my wife – was very insistent that I did not don’t go there, that I continue to work in the theatre. On February 24 there were explosions near our house in kyiv, for me it was obvious that this time we had to go. She agreed and even volunteered in national defense. I had no military training. My only advantage is that I had acted in action films: I had been shown a few basics of military technique during filming. After February 24, the Svoboda Legion to which I belong received basic military training (tactics, handling of weapons). First there were two weeks of theory, then ten days of practical exercises in combat conditions – this period has since been shortened for those going to the front.

In the beginning, it was thanks to the volunteers that I was able to have soldier’s equipment. When I entered the national guard, the state provided me with equipment, but it was still insufficient. If it weren’t for the volunteers and the aid from the European Union, we wouldn’t be able to be properly equipped. At present, when new soldiers arrive on the front, in the East, they find that the battalions which have been there since the beginning are much better equipped than them”.

The discovery of horror in Irpin and Boutcha

“I was first sent to the kyiv region, to Brovary, then Boutcha, Irpin and Gostomel. The Russians thought that we were going to welcome them as heroes, that they were going to be able to parade in the city center, they did not expect the people, the ordinary people, to also start resisting. It was national unity that pushed the Russians back.

Boutcha and Irpin, it’s the most traumatic experience I’ve ever had. And it hurts me every time I talk about it. There is an asphalt road after a bridge, in Irpin: it leads to a crossroads from which three streets start. On one of them lined the bodies of the people who had tried to stop the Russian vehicles, and who had been shot at. Their bodies had been left on the edge of this path.

In Boutcha, my unit was in charge of searching each house, to check if there were Russians, weapons, bombs… On entering one of the houses, we smelled a horrible smell. Going down to the cellar, we discovered 30 bodies. Civilians. They had been tortured, their hands tied, and the Russians had fired a bullet at each of them to finish them off. I may be tall, strong, bearded, all that, but I can’t understand – and my comrades feel the same way – how human beings can do this to other human beings.

I felt the urge to avenge all those people who were killed, the women and children who suffered atrocities. Seeing all of this made me want to get to the Eastern Front faster. After Boutcha, we had seven days of practical combat preparation, and arrived in the East on April 25. First in northern Donbass, then in Severodonetsk, still in the Luhansk region.”

Severodonetsk hell

“For me, the battle of Severodonetsk was like being plunged into the heart of Mordor (the terrifying stronghold of the Dark Lord Sauron, in the Lord of the Rings, by Tolkien, editor’s note). The Russians had military positions in every part of the city. We counted: every hour we were the target of more than 400 artillery fire. The bombings were continuous. All the buildings were in ruins, the city now looks like a kind of hive, with holes everywhere. Each explosion made a hole as deep as twice my size, and 10 meters wide. On June 21, one of my friends was killed by an air attack, in an explosion, very close to where I was. Of his body, we only found the head and one arm.

When the command warned that an air attack was possible, we tried to find a basement, a place where we could hide. But if you’re in the middle of the street at that time, you have no way to protect yourself. The defense of Severodonetsk lasted about a month. The main goal was to stop the Russians, or at least to try to stop them there as long as possible. Two weeks before the fighting ended, our command recommended that we retreat to another line of defense if we wanted to save our lives. But we chose to stay there anyway.

I was injured on June 13 by a sniper shot (he shows on his phone a photo of a large gash in the forearm, editor’s note). But I stayed because I had 142 people under my command, I couldn’t let them down. The official order to withdraw came on the night of June 22-23. It was a good decision to retire. I would say that it was even the only possible decision. There was no longer any place to hide, everything was in ruins. There was no way we could stay any longer, or we’d all be dead. If we had left earlier, the Russians could have advanced more quickly, and taken more towns. That’s how we hold on during this war, by resisting on the front line”.

Lyssytchansk, next city to defend in the East

“At present, the two cities to be defended as a priority in the Donbass are Lyssytchansk and Bakhmout, located right next to it. We need anti-tank rocket launchers; and drones. The drone is very important in modern warfare: it makes it possible to identify enemy positions, correct artillery fire. If we receive the heavy weapons promised by the United States and other Western countries, we will be able to resist and advance. With the equipment what we have now, our infantry can fight, but we need an air defense system.We also need to impose harsher sanctions on Russia, so that they no longer have the possibility of buying weapons.

As I told you, we are under more than 400 Russian artillery fire per hour. If we can send the same amount of rockets to the Russians, we can win. I personally used the Spanish Matador – an anti-tank weapon, Lithuanian and German grenade launchers; and French rockets. Just recently, my unit received American Himars rocket launchers.

But we suffer from a great lack of unit leaders who really have military experience, who have already been on the front line. When I arrived in Severodonetsk, the previous battalion commander was killed. The unit elected a new leader, and they chose me. The most important thing about being a battalion commander is that the other soldiers respect you. Among the Cossacks, the commander-in-chief of the armies, the Hetman, was elected by his men. If he was not respected, he could not win the war. It would be good if soldiers from the foreign legion could mix with our units. That people who fought in Afghanistan, for example, share their experience with the Ukrainian army.

Among the soldiers who joined my unit, 220 are no longer fit to fight. Among them, the wounded; and 16 men who fought alongside me and are officially dead. France and the countries of the European Union will never be able to feel all this, all this pain that we feel in Ukraine. I’m going to see the doctor here in kyiv, who will examine my wound and tell me when I can go back to the front. I think it will be at most in a week. Then I will go to fight in Lysytchansk”.