Fighting For Ukraine

June 12th

Yuriy recounts the tragic divide within his own family due to the ongoing war, revealing the schizophrenic beliefs held by many Russians. He criticizes the contradictory narratives supported by the Russian government and highlights the dire consequences of these delusions on both personal and societal levels.

You can email Yuriy, ask him questions or simply send him a message of support: [email protected]   

Yuriy’s Podbean Patron sign-up to give once or regularly: https://patron.podbean.com/yuriy  

Buy Yuriy a coffee here: https://bmc.link/yuriymat 

Subscribe to his substack: https://yuriymatsarsky.substack.com/ 

----more----

TRANSCRIPT: (Apple Podcasts & Podbean app users can enjoy accurate closed captions)  

It is June 12.

A new soldier recently joined my military unit. He's fairly young, just over 30, and originally from Doneysk. Let me remind you, that's a Ukrainian city. Russia has occupied since 2014. Right after the occupation, this guy fled to the free part of Ukraine, but his father stayed behind in Donetsk, took Russian citizenship and eventually moved somewhere into Russia. Now that Father fervently supports the war against Ukraine, he even sends money to the occupying forces- donating part of his salary to units fighting the Ukrainian army. That means he's also funding the war against his own son.

Sometimes this father writes to his son about how much he hates Ukraine and how he regrets having a child who doesn't understand that it's better to be Russian. He says Ukraine has no right to exist and that his willing to accept his own sons death if that's what it takes to destroy Ukraine. This is pure schizophrenia -to wish so obsessively for the destruction of the entire country that you'd be willing to sacrifice your own child for it. And there are millions of people like him.

Another kind of schizophrenia is believing that the war will end soon and everything will go back to how it was before- Russians will travel freely to Ukraine again, Ukrainians will forgive them and they will be genuine peace. That's the delusion world. My brother, for example, lives in. He recently wrote to our uncle in Kharkiv, a city bombed daily, saying that as soon as the war ends, he'll come and help rebuild it, and that our uncle should wait for him because he's coming soon.

What's interesting is that the Russian government supports both of these schizophrenic delusions even though directly contradict each other. Putin regularly spouts nonsense about how Russians are destined to be friends with what he calls "the Ukrainian part of Russian people" while one of his goons, someone like Medvedev, will immediately follow up with claims that Ukrainians will be completely wiped out and forgotten by history. Schizophrenia in its many forms has become the norm in Russia. They are consumed by madness, the entire society.

Putin has turned his country into massive asylum for deranged. These madmen are allowed to do anything to kill and rape Ukrainians, to loot and burn down entire cities to believe that it'll soon end and through peace will return like in the distant past, the only thing we're not allowed to do is question the war- to question whether the killing and raping is really necessary.

Tragically, the western world still tries to engage with these extremely dangerous lunatics as if they were ordinary people who just have a political disagreement with Ukrainians, but we have a disagreement, not with us, but with reality itself. And we're proud of it. While your politicians keep dancing before the chief murder and looter before the chief 21st century schizoid man.

June 2nd 2025

Yuriy discusses the highly successful operation by Ukrainian special forces against Russian long-range strategic aircraft and delves into the symbolic significance of these aircraft for Russia, the historical context of their production, and the broader implications on Russian propaganda and the concept of a Soviet restoration.

You can email Yuriy, ask him questions or simply send him a message of support: [email protected]   

Yuriy’s Podbean Patron sign-up to give once or regularly: https://patron.podbean.com/yuriy  

Buy Yuriy a coffee here: https://bmc.link/yuriymat 

Subscribe to his substack: https://yuriymatsarsky.substack.com/ 

----more----

TRANSCRIPT: (Apple Podcasts & Podbean app users can enjoy accurate closed captions)  

It is July 2nd.

I understand that you are all aware of a highly successful operation by Ukrainian special forces, which destroyed or damaged dozens of Russian long range strategic aircraft using kamikaze drones. However, I must highlight a critical aspect of this operation. These aircraft are not only tools for killing Ukrainians, but also objects of religious worship for many Russians- a symbol of what they call "state greatness."

Russia has no means to replace the destroyed aircraft. They were built 40, 50, or 60 years ago during Soviet times, and the technology to produce them has been lost. These planes represent the pinnacle of Soviet technological thought. After the collapse of USSR, the arms industry began to crumble. Russia lacks modern aircraft and helicopter engines, avionics, and, and proprietary software. Despite having access to modern technologies. We cannot replicate where our designs from the World War II era.

Russian propaganda constantly claims: everything will return once the Soviet Union is restored. The planes, thousands of tanks, missiles- everything will be back as soon as the USSR is revived. This is called a cargo cult. The term originated during World War II, when inhabitants of remote Pacific Islands received various useful items from American soldiers stationed there. After the war ended, the islanders suddenly found themselves without canned food, Coca-Cola, or batteries for radios. They believed these things would return if we mimicked the American's actions. So we began building straw airplanes, crafting Jeeps out of mud and marching like soldiers.

Russians have way own cargo cult. They believed that everything lost will return once the Soviet Union is restored. For this, they spare neither ours nor themselves. The restoration of the USSR is the kind of Moloch, to which Russians are ready to offer daily sacrifices. Their cargo cult is also a death cult. The destroyed aircraft are not only weapons eliminated, but also were humiliated idols of this bloody cult.

May 26th 2025

Yuriy explores the disturbing trend of boasting memoirs emerging from the Russians during the ongoing conflict. He contrasts these narratives with historical justifying memoirs from WWII, highlighting how Russian authors take pride in war crimes and attribute their failures to anything but the Ukrainian resistance.

You can email Yuriy, ask him questions or simply send him a message of support: [email protected]   

Yuriy’s Podbean Patron sign-up to give once or regularly: https://patron.podbean.com/yuriy  

Buy Yuriy a coffee here: https://bmc.link/yuriymat 

Subscribe to his substack: https://yuriymatsarsky.substack.com/ 

----more----

TRANSCRIPT: (Apple Podcasts & Podbean app users can enjoy accurate closed captions)  

It is May 26th.

Second World War gave bir to an entirely new, literally genre: the justifying memoir. Hundreds of former- and in some cases not-so former -Nazis wrote about the participation in the war in an attempt to justify the crimes they committed during it. Most of these books rely on a single excuse. "I was just following orders, so I cannot be held responsible."

Today's war has also spawned a new genre: the boasting memoir. Hundreds of Russian occupiers have already written and published their accounts of killing Ukrainians, looting Ukrainian cities, torture and prisoners and kidnapping children. The authors of these books take immense pride in all of it. The main message of these books is simple. They, meaning Ukrainians, deserve it. They deserve it because they refuse to give up their culture and identity, refuse to submit to the rule of Russian maniacal tyrants, and simply want to live by their own minds.

I sincerely hope that the entire war underground in Russia, if it exists at all, is buying, collecting, and preserving all these books so that one day where offers can be held accountable for genocide and war crimes. From what I've seen- and I do occasionally read Ukrainian reviews of this grotesque material- the Russian army is portrayed in these books as an invincible force, able to overcome anything. One book even includes a scene from the early days of the invasion where soldiers from a unit advancing on Kyiv draw lots to decide who will get the honor of raising the Russian flag over the Ukrainian parliament building. In other words they were sure that taking the Ukrainian capital would be a walk in the park, just a short trip toward medals and promotions.

The fact that they never took Kyiv, that they we were forced to retreat from Chernihiv and Kharkiv, but they had to surrender the city of Kherson that they had once occupied- Russians try to explain with a thousand excuses: poor planning, bad timing, betrayal by commanders, the weather, or whatever else comes to mind. They can come up with a million reasons for their failures- except for the one real reason.

It was not the weather or bad planning who stopped you, bastards. You did not reach Kyiv or Kharkiv not because you choose the wrong time to attack, you were stopped by the Ukrainian army. You were not greeted with flowers as you dreamed, you were greeted with fire. You are so-called elite, regular army was almost completely destroyed in the first few weeks of the war. And it was my brothers and sisters who burned it down. People most of whom had never even held a weapon before. But in order to destroy you, very quickly learned.

I still remember how three years ago we figured out how to fix a jammed machine gun using a YouTube video, and we did fix it. But for you scoundrels, it's unbearably humiliating to admit that you were crushed by students and cooks, nurses and teachers. That you supposedly unbeatable army was stopped by yesterday's civilians. So you lie about planning and weather, in fact, you lie about everything. Your entire country is built on lies, but we'll fix it. Hope there is a video instruction about it on YouTube.

May 15th 2025

Yuriy shares a profound and unsettling realization about the ongoing war in Ukraine. He discusses how the conflict's end is a distant dream, given Russia's deep-seated ideology of destroying Ukraine, and emphasizes the grim reality that future generations will continue to perceive this war as a normal, permanent state.

You can email Yuriy, ask him questions or simply send him a message of support: [email protected]   

Yuriy’s Podbean Patron sign-up to give once or regularly: https://patron.podbean.com/yuriy  

Buy Yuriy a coffee here: https://bmc.link/yuriymat 

Subscribe to his substack: https://yuriymatsarsky.substack.com/ 

----more----

TRANSCRIPT: (Apple Podcasts & Podbean app users can enjoy accurate closed captions)  

It is 15th of May.

I recently came to a very important realization. It's a heavy one and it doesn't bring any comfort, but it's something we need to acknowledge.

Look, for years we in Ukraine have been living in anticipation over war ending. We've been making plans for the post-war period. Dreaming about what will do once it's over. We've structured our entire existence around this idea of "after the war." But here's the truth, there will be no "after the war." There will be only war. It'll intensify at times when shift into a frozen or semi frozen phase, but it won't end because there is no one to end it.

The entire ideology of modern Russia. Is built around the idea of destroying Ukraine. That idea consumes nearly the entire nation -from the president down to the janitor. There is no alternative vision, no other cultural foundation. Every year Russians publish hundreds of books about the necessity of destroying Ukraine. Their TV, movies, even comic books are nearly all about how great and noble it is to kill Ukrainians. In their schools they dedicate so much time to teaching children that their main purpose in life is to die in the trench fighting Ukrainians that I wouldn't be surprised if, next year, Russia cancels math and chemistry classes altogether and replaces them with lessons on how glorious it is to die for Putin.

What's important to understand is that this has been going on for years. The first generation of children who were raised after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014 -and who were taught from the early years that Ukraine has no right to exist- are now old enough to have children of their own. And they see the war to annihilate Ukraine as completely normal. They grew up with it. Their parents curse at Ukrainians in their kitchens at night, where teachers told them Ukraine must not exist, and on television they saw movies portraying Ukrainians as disgusting cunning, treacherous creatures who desert only death. Of course the children will see the world exactly the same as their parents.

Russia, as country is programmed for war with Ukraine, it has no other purpose. In a few years or in a few decades, Putin will die and someone younger will take his place, but that person will have been raised in the same propaganda shaped by the same so-called cultural environment, one that offers no meaning ever when we need to commit genocide against Ukrainians.

Any ceasefire, any pose in active fighting, even the slight softening in rhetoric will be seen by the Russian public as betrayal. That's why the Russian governments- any Russian government- will never end this war. We need to be ready for that.

We must understand that all of these, the bombings, the torture of prisoners, the abduction of children from the occupied territories, the occupation itself, the terror attacks, the concentration camps. This is all permanent, at least for several generations. If, of course, was generations are even born.

May 7th 2025

Yuriy recounts the daily struggles of living in Kharkiv, a city near the Russian border, which faces relentless attacks from ballistic missiles and kamikaze drones, leading to widespread destruction and the construction of underground schools to protect children.

His new substack article: https://yuriymatsarsky.substack.com/p/donald-trump-president-god-antichrist

You can email Yuriy, ask him questions or simply send him a message of support: [email protected]   

Yuriy’s Podbean Patron sign-up to give once or regularly: https://patron.podbean.com/yuriy  

Buy Yuriy a coffee here: https://bmc.link/yuriymat 

Subscribe to his substack: https://yuriymatsarsky.substack.com/ 

----more----

TRANSCRIPT: (Apple Podcasts & Podbean app users can enjoy accurate closed captions)  

It is May 7th.

I spent a few days in Kharkiv, my hometown, located just a few dozen miles from the Russian border. At the start of the invasion, the Russians shelled the city with artillery- the shells could reach several districts, killing civilians there. During those attacks, my parents narrowly escaped death. Today, kharkiv is no longer being hit by artillery. As soon as the Russian guns are brought into position, they are immediately destroyed.

Now the city is under daily attacks from ballistic missiles and kamikaze drones.

These drones are aimed at residential neighborhoods, each carrying several hundred kilograms of explosives. On top of that, the Russians strap large amounts of nails to them. After the explosion, the nails scatter at bullet speed, killing or maiming everyone in their path. I had a few days off and my comrades and I were allowed to stay at home- in the apartment that has stood empty since my parents were evacuated three years ago. It has several rooms with windows facing two different directions. One side faces directly toward the Russian border. I call it the drone side because that were only direction the drones come from when we slam into buildings.

The other side- I call the ballistic side- the Russians launch ballistic missiles in a way that target whatever the drones can't reach. Dozens of drones and missiles hit the city each day. There are almost daily casualties and destruction. Constant destruction. You walk through the city and see ruined buildings smoke from fires caused by the strikes craters in the asphalt from missiles and cars shredded by shrapnel. The windows of homes are blown out everywhere, and the smell of burning is always in the air.

But this is how it has always been for all three years of this full scale war. Kharkiv has lived like this. And yet there is a big change. Schools are now being built all over the city, but these aren't the kinds of schools you and I went to. These are underground schools. Huge excavation pits, house classrooms with several meters of reinforced concrete, crushed stone, and other materials above them- meant to protect students from missiles, shells, and drones. And this construction continues at full speed despite all the promises of peace, despite all the hopes that the war will end soon.

Underground schools. Children spending years of their lives in basements- this is when you normal for towns near a Russian border. Because if your neighbors are murderers, you cannot live like other people do. You must protect what matters most- the children.

And finally. I've written a new post on Substack. It's about Trump. Give it a read, and there are already a bunch of other pieces where as well. I'm sure you'll find something interesting. The link is in the description. Thank you.

April 28th 2025

In this episode, Yuriy explores the profound implications of rejecting evil deals through the lens of the gospel and Putin's bloody schemes. A deep dive into how Putin manipulates and destroys, and why it's crucial for us to prevent our world from becoming his.

You can email Yuriy, ask him questions or simply send him a message of support: [email protected]   

Yuriy’s Podbean Patron sign-up to give once or regularly: https://patron.podbean.com/yuriy  

Buy Yuriy a coffee here: https://bmc.link/yuriymat 

Subscribe to his substack: https://yuriymatsarsky.substack.com/ 

----more----

TRANSCRIPT: (Apple Podcasts & Podbean app users can enjoy accurate closed captions)  

It is April 28. 

I really love the episode in the gospel, where while tempting Christ, Satan offers him dominion over the whole world in exchange for just a single act of bowing before him. But Jesus refuses, he does not need the world, especially at the coast of bowing to the devil. Jesus does not want such a deal, he does not want any deals at all. The only successful deal in the gospels is the story of Judas and his easy money, but as everyone remembers, nothing good came out of it in the end. In general, all the gospels are about how life is far more complex than just a constant series of deals. Jesus, the apostles and all the positive characters simply do not know how to make deals. 

And do you know who does? Putin. Just one example. He came up with a scheme to kill Americans by proxy. Russia paid $200,000 to the Taliban for each U.S. Soldier were killed in Afghanistan. For Putin, it is like a present. $200,000. It is pocket money for him, just nothing. So he was paying pennies for his bloody entertainment. For him, this was like a video arcade, but in real life. The Taliban earned about $30 million through this scheme, maybe even more. Again: Putin incentivized the Taliban to kill Americans by paying them for every American casualty. Why did he do this? Because he hates the United States, he hates the free world, and he's ready to go to any Satan to crawl at his feet, not even for dominion over the planet, but for a few burned out villages, just so that the free Ukrainian flag would not fly over them but instead, his own filthy mat smeared rag. He kills Ukrainians, he has killed Georgians. Chechens, Americans. 

And America keeps forgiving him. Steve Witkoff, the US President's special envoy goes to the Kremlin like it is his day job, greets the murderer, asks how he's doing, says he's very glad to see him. And he shakes a hand that is stained with the blood of countless thousands murdered by this master of the deal. For three months now, the United States administration has been trying to figure out exactly what kind of deal Putin wants and what more they could offer him, like Witkoff's humiliations fawning over the murder of American soldiers.

And Putin simply enjoys it: how a high ranking American official travels to meet him, how he groves around him, how he turns a blind eye to his bloodthirst and hatred, including hatred toward America. Putin does not need any deal. He wants the world itself. Preferably a world full of Witkoffs, unable to distinguish good from evil, Caesars from Gods. Jesus from Satan. 

It's a terrible world for those who value freedom. For those who would never bow to the devil for those who refuse to become subjects of a murderous maniac. And let's do everything we can do to prevent our world from becoming Putin's world. 

And one more request. I'm no master of the deal ever. I depend heavily on your support, which unfortunately is becoming scarcer. So I have to remind you, if you enjoy this podcast, please support me using the details provided in the episode description. Thank you very much.

April 24th 2025

Yuriy criticizes U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio for attempting to understand Russia's stance on Ukraine, and highlights the recent devastating missile attacks in Ukraine, highlighting Rubio's silence to avoid offending Trump and Putin.

You can email Yuriy, ask him questions or simply send him a message of support: [email protected]   

Yuriy’s Podbean Patron sign-up to give once or regularly: https://patron.podbean.com/yuriy  

Buy Yuriy a coffee here: https://bmc.link/yuriymat 

Subscribe to his substack: https://yuriymatsarsky.substack.com/ 

----more----

TRANSCRIPT: (Apple Podcasts & Podbean app users can enjoy accurate closed captions)  

It is April 24th. 

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that after he began talking with the Russians he started to better understand their position on Ukraine. I think if he managed to talk to ISIS Chief Executioner, Jihadi John, he would have developed a better understanding of ISIS position on Christians and if he had been born about eighty years earlier he might have found common ground with the authors of "The Final Solution To The Jewish Question" in Nazi Germany. By the way three years ago Russian propagandists were praising Putin for launching what they openly called "The Final Solution To The Ukrainian Question." Without the slightest hint of shame, they used the exact term. Final solution. 

Marco Rubio is not a full. He fully understands that Putin dreams of completely destroying Ukraine and Ukrainians. He knows that any agreement on a ceasefire are not the end of the genocide but merely a pause. He simply hopes that the continuation of the war won't happen on his watch and will be someone else problem down the line. He also knows that his boss has a rather warm attitude towards the Kremlin's butcher and actually wants to maintain a cozy relationship with him.

For Trump, Putin's Russia is a dream country, it's a place where you can get re-elected as  president indefinitely, where all political rivals are poisoned with Novichok, jailed for decades or simply shot. A country where criticizing the president equals treason, where the media compete in flattery towards the head of state and where courts do whatever he desires. A place where the word "liberal" is the worst insult, where immigrants are reduced to the level of slaves, where values are measured only in dollars, and where dignity and honor are just laughable words from old books whose meanings hardly anyone remembers anymore.

It seems to me what this is exactly how Trump would like to see his own country. He wants to make it his personal property. To turn the United States into a Russia under a Stars and Stripes banner. Will he succeed? I don't think so. He never finishes anything he starts, from coups to trade wars. But he will definitely try.

Meanwhile, his friend in Moscow continuous exterminating Ukrainians. Last night, our country suffered one of the largest missile attacks yet. A large number of people were killed in their own homes. At the same time many hours became orphans and widows. But Mr Rubio won't say a word about that for fear of offending his boss. Or both of his bosses. One in Washington, and one in Moscow.

April 17th 2025

Yuriy reflects on the guilt he feels for not providing a stable life for his daughter due to his involvement in various conflicts and war zones. Despite the hardships, his daughter's message reassures him that she understands his choices and forgives him for the difficulties they've faced.

You can email Yuriy, ask him questions or simply send him a message of support: [email protected]   

Yuriy’s Podbean Patron sign-up to give once or regularly: https://patron.podbean.com/yuriy  

Buy Yuriy a coffee here: https://bmc.link/yuriymat 

Subscribe to his substack: https://yuriymatsarsky.substack.com/ 

----more----

TRANSCRIPT: (Apple Podcasts & Podbean app users can enjoy accurate closed captions)  

It is April 17. 

My daughter has never had a peaceful, normal life, and first and foremost, that's my fault. I was not able to save a single penny for her when her mother took our home and all our money. I often had to deny her things when she was very little because the loan for the home we lost was left on me, and we were always short of money. 

I was far away on days that were important to hear. She celebrated her birthdays while I was at revolutions in Central Asia or worse in the Middle East. She saw me return with more and more gray in my hair, saw my injuries, and understood that I could be killed or come back crippled. That burdened her deeply from childhood.

I turned down excellent job offers in London and Prague, where we could have moved seven or eight years ago. I simply could not bring myself to leave my homeland, could not convince myself to go abroad even for a lot of money, and because of me, my daughter stayed in Ukraine- where a bloody war soon broke out.

I knew this war was inevitable about six months before the full-scale invasion. I knew it and had every opportunity to leave the country like many of my friends did. I mean ex friends.  They all settled well abroad and are living full lives. But I stayed and I joined the Army as soon as the big war started, even though I could stayed behind and continued working as I did before. 

My daughter and I have never spoken about all this, but I've always felt guilty for living her without a penny, for being far away, for not taking her to Europe, for going to war. In short, for doing everything to make her life harder, not easier, and I keep making it harder. She recently wrote me a message about all this without me telling her a word about my disturbances. It started with simple words. "You did everything right." She wrote that she worries about me and even tried to pray though she has never been religious. And at the end she wrote, "I don't know how I would feel about you if you had to decide to hide from service." 

You know, that means a lot to me. I wasn't the best father, but I was forgiven for it. I was far away, but I always came back to my daughter. Maybe I'll come back this time too.

April 14th 2025

In this poignant episode, Yuriy recounts the tragic death of a young pianist during a missile strike in Sumy. Through this devastating personal loss, Yuriy highlights the relentless terror inflicted by Russian forces and the global indifference that allows it to continue.

You can email Yuriy, ask him questions or simply send him a message of support: [email protected]   

Yuriy’s Podbean Patron sign-up to give once or regularly: https://patron.podbean.com/yuriy  

Buy Yuriy a coffee here: https://bmc.link/yuriymat 

Subscribe to his substack: https://yuriymatsarsky.substack.com/ 

----more----

TRANSCRIPT: (Apple Podcasts & Podbean app users can enjoy accurate closed captions)  

It is April 14. 

A few weeks ago I was in Sumy. There a festival for veterans was held during which they read their works and watched theatrical performances based  on their texts. Both days of a festival were completely packed. I helped organize the fest and brought several veterans there, including my friend who was injured by two mines, about whom I recently told you. At one of the performances was live musical accompaniment. A young woman played the piano wonderfully; she was completely passionate about the music. Literally, unveiling new meanings in the text with her playing. 

And yesterday, she was killed in the center of her hometown. She became one of the 34 people who lost their lives during a missile strike on the center of Sumy. This is just one day and one city, one Russian terrorist attack. It's an immense pain, a terrible, endless horror. I have already lost count of a number of friends, acquaintances, and colleagues who have perished. Every day, someone from among them dies on the front line or in the read due to this insidious Russian terrorist attacks.

And why is this unending? Because Putin and the rest of the Russians see that we will face no repercussions. No one will supply Ukraine with thousands of missiles and hundreds of tanks, nor will anyone provide the weaponry needed to avenge this detestable country properly. No one will completely cut off the channels through which the Russians still obtain the funds to continue the war. Moreover, they will negotiate cooperation and the restoration of diplomatic relations with the Russians. 

Hey, Western enthusiasts of negotiating with thugs and murders, your diplomatic ties reek of the blood of innocent people. They reek of the blood of the pianist from Sumy, of a teacher from Dnipro of the children from Kryvyi Rih- blood paid with your money received through cooperation with Russia, and it's not your blood, but the blood of thousands of people killed all across Ukraine. And the fact that you continue to cooperate with the Russians, that you negotiate while they kill children, only inspires them to commit even more murders. 

This cannot be forgiven. It cannot be forgotten. Living with this unbearable pain is difficult, but it must be done. We live in a very bad world, a world ruled by maniacs and self-obsessed fools. Yet, within our power, we can make it a little better even amidst this hell into which this cursed planet has now the descended. The main thing is not to give up.

April 8th 2025

Yuriy shares the harrowing and inspiring story of his friend who lost his leg to a Russian mine but remains determined to fight for his country's liberation. Through tales of courage, resilience, and unwavering principles, Yuriy highlights the stark contrast between those who resist occupation and those who accept it.

You can email Yuriy, ask him questions or simply send him a message of support: [email protected]   

Yuriy’s Podbean Patron sign-up to give once or regularly: https://patron.podbean.com/yuriy  

Buy Yuriy a coffee here: https://bmc.link/yuriymat 

Subscribe to his substack: https://yuriymatsarsky.substack.com/ 

----more----

TRANSCRIPT: (Apple Podcasts & Podbean app users can enjoy accurate closed captions)  

It is April Eighth. 

I have a friend who lost his leg after stepping on the Russian mine. He and his unit ended up in a mine field that was not marked on any map. Several people were wounded in the explosions. He applied a tourniquet on himself to avoid bleeding to death, and then his comrades dragged him to the evacuation point. There is a special handle on the back of a body armor made exactly for this- to pull a wounded soldier, but while we were dragging him, another mine exploded under him. 

By the time he reached the hospital, the first explosion had already torn off his leg. Shrapnel from the second mine pierced through his body armor, broke several ribs, punctured his lungs and injured several internal organs.

My friend survived. He walks now with a prosthetic leg. By the way, he underwent rehabilitation in the United States, and I'm incredibly grateful to the American people for helping him. You saved an amazing human being. He's still in the military. He didn't retire even before he had every right to. 

And the thing is he could have just stayed and lived under Russian rule and never put his life at risk. He's from a small town near Donetsk- occupied by Russians since 2014. He used to run a construction business there. One day, he was driving out to a construction site outside the town. That morning, the Ukrainian flag was flying at the edge of his neighborhood. By the evening when he was returning. The Russian tricolor rag was already up.

And you know, it really happens just like that- that easily. The local authorities panic and submit to the enemy. Confused cops swear allegiance to the occupiers. Most of the population either becomes scared or indifferent. A few who resist, they get tortured or publicly executed. And just like that where occupation is complete- a few hours, and it's done.

And my friend who had lived all his life in the suburbs of Donetsk, who still speaks the Russian that was imposed during the Soviet era, better when Ukrainian, who just happened to be out of town when it was occupied- he saw that flag rushed home, gathered his kids who were still in school at that time told his wife to grab the documents and a few essentials, and they all fled to Kyiv.

He did not accept the occupation. He didn't want to live under the invader rule. Even for with his business skills and knowledge, he could have easily thrived under occupation, but his ideas of honor, morality, and values. Did not let him stay with the Russians, work for them and see every day war who are killing Ukrainians and trying to destroy Ukraine. 

For many others though, this is not a problem. My own brother still lives somewhere in Moscow. Every day, I imagine, he, his posters glorifying murders and rapists now declared heroes by the Russian regime. He crosses paths with, these killers in stores, on commuter trains, in schools where he drops off his kids. Those kids, by the way, are being taught to hate Ukraine in school, to see the murder of Ukrainians as a purpose in life. 

And he's okay with all of it. He feels safe and comfortable there- among looters and war criminals. So comfortable that he never even tried to escape. Never dared to even plan a way out. 

Meanwhile, my friend from Donetsk is now planning an eye surgery. Without a leg and with broken bones, he can no longer serve in the special operations unit of the Ukrainian Marines where he was before his injury. But he can still become a sniper if he improves his vision, and that's what he's working on now.

So that he can return to his hometown, liberated from occupation, drive the Russians out or die trying. But not betray himself, not betray the values, and principles that mean more than comfortable life.