They fight in the infantry. They repair equipment. They save the wounded. A documentary photographer Oleh Petrasiuk captures the everyday war routine among the soldiers of the 24th Mechanized Brigade named after King Danylo, that has been operating in the vicinity of Chasiv Yar since June. In February this year he also joined the ranks of this brigade. We publish a series of Oleh’s photos that he has been making during two months of active fighting.
“When we entered Chasiv Yar, replacing another unit there, the situation was critical. It was hard to hold our positions due to complicated logistics: we could only rotate people or deliver supplies through the crossing that was heavily shelled. All our armored vehicles were going with a great risk. We were often losing them. Almost always after their very first trip they went directly to the repair and restoration battalion that was working at one hundred and twenty percent of their capacity. They were flooded with so much work that the photo couldn’t reflect that at all. All that can be seen is just the smoke and dust shelled by the Grad, and an armored vehicle appearing from them.
So, the photos only show a tiny part of the war. I wanted to show more, but, unfortunately, not every position is suitable for taking the pictures.
Nevertheless, I tried to cover the operation of all units. Our brigade has a long history and rich experience, worthy military traditions. We communicate directly with our chiefs, discussing and planning our operations. These are people like-minded to me, and I deeply like it. When I went through my first dangerous experiences at the front, I saw my experienced colleagues next to me, who behaved calmly and confidently; that helped me not to panic and avoid making hasty decisions. That’s how our whole brigade operates: you join experienced troops, and they pass their experience on to you.
Alas, lately we have not been receiving as much state-of-art weapons. Given their vast experience, our tankers could have squeezed much more out of the new combat vehicle.
Still, machines are machines, and the human factor is the most important at the war. People who serve with you are always the most important. And there are too few of them,”—says the photographer.
Translation — Olha Dubnevych
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[The translation of this publication was compiled with the support of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation within the framework “European Renaissance of Ukraine” project. Its content is the exclusive responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation]
