Valentin Volkov, Minsk on July 3, 1944. 1955.
(see part 1 here)
In the same issue as the Ukraine letter and commentary from a Russian military expert, Novaya Gazeta published an interview with a Russian tankman. Dorji Batomunkuev, 20 years old, from Buryatia in the East of Russia, Fifth Tank Brigade, is a former conscript who signed a 3-year contract and was sent to Ukraine as part of a tank brigade. His tank was hit in course of the Debaltsevo encirclement, he received severe burns and was transported first to a hospital in Donetsk and later, to Rostov. The interview was done in hospital. Here is an excerpt, and the full text can be found here (warning: graphic photo).
“– Do you regret [having agreed to participate in the Ukraine operation]?
– It’s too late for regrets. No resentment. Because I know that I fought for a just cause. I was constantly watching the news about Ukraine – elections, elections, elections, then the Orange Revolution began, then Odessa, Mariupol … When I was in Peschanka, as a cadet in Chita, we had entry-level military training, they turned on the TV for us. They turned on the news. It was exactly when Odessa happened… people got burned. Immediately all of us… We all became ill. Due to the fact that the feeling… maybe … it was wrong. It was inhumane, unjust. And the fact that I … that in fact conscripts cannot be brought here. In general, that’s not possible. Nevertheless, I went anyway. With a sense … not of duty, but of justice. Here I have seen enough of killing. Rampant. It’s the same sense of justice. When we ride in our tanks, sometimes the Ukropy [Ukrainians] intercept our radio transmissions. I remember exactly a man’s voice: “Listen carefully, you bastards from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Rostov. We will kill you all. First you, your wives, your children, we’ll get to your parents. We are fascists. We’ll stop at nothing. We will kill you like our Chechen brothers did, chop your heads off. Remember that. We’ll send you home in zinc coffins, in pieces.” […]
– How do you plan to live from now on?
– I’ve had enough of war. I’ve served, fought for the DNR. What remains is peaceful life. Studying and working.”
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