The pudgy young men jogging across a rain-sodden field are slated within three weeks to stand in armed combat alongside the black-uniformed, balaclava-clad soldiers that mutely observe them from its perimeter.
That
is the length of the physical and psychological training to which new recruits
are subjected at the 13-hectare National Guard training center near the
village of Novi Petrivtsi, some 10 kilometers north of Kyiv.
But
these men are not ordinary members of the Interior Ministry force reconstituted
in 2014 following Russia’s annexation of Crimea. They are part of the Donbas
Battalion, a volunteer militia group formed to fight Kremlin-backed separatists in the
country’s east. An agreement reached with the ministry on May 29 has cleared
the way for the unit’s incorporation into the National Guard, and the training center was made
available to prepare its cadets for assignments in Donetsk and Luhansk.
At
the entrance to the compound stands a billboard emblazoned with the words
“Courage, Honour, Law,” lending the place a sense of spirituality that
Alexander Verba, an Orthodox Christian priest of the Kyiv Patriarchate, considers crucial to the success
of their campaign to ensure a united Ukraine. He went to bring a new batch of helmets to the battalion.
“This is a basic element of protecting a life. If you
pray for a person, if he has spiritual protection, the likelihood that he will
stay alive increases substantially. The men who will wear these helmets will be
protected through the force of our prayers,” he says.
The official training represents a significant step up in
professionalism from the makeshift summer camp outside Dnipropetrovsk that previously
served as the battalion’s primary base. Here no secrecy is required: vast
billboards advertising the National Guard line the asphalt road leading to the
compound, similar to those springing up across the capital as the unit intensifies
its recruitment campaign in the wake of an escalation in violence across
eastern Ukraine that has claimed hundreds of lives, including those of at least 64 Ukrainian servicemen.
Semyon
Semenchenko, the unit’s 38-year-old commander, has been present on Kyiv’s
Independence Square in recent weeks enlisting fresh volunteers for the unit, a campaign
which he supplements with an active social media presence.
“Today
until 4pm the Donbas Battalion will be carrying out its final draft on Maidan,”
he wrote in a Facebook post on June 8. “All those not willing to go to the
front – protect your health. Vodka cuts down patriots far more suddenly than
any bullet, especially in such heat.”
The Donbas Battalion, which is financed through
private donations, comprises around 800 men in total. Around three quarters of them are
natives of the Donetsk region which gives the squadron its name.
A further 150 are on a waiting list, and new recruits arrive at the training
facility each day.
According to Semenchenko, half of
the men at Novi
Petrivtsi have prior military experience in Afghanistan, Iraq
and other conflict zones. “The
aim is to revive their skills and make them instructors, so they can bring the
others up to the same standard,” he says.
Reinforcements
are much needed. The battalion has suffered a number of casualties since
fighting began in the east: on May 22 five of its men were killed and six
wounded after the unit was ambushed by pro-Russian forces near the village of
Karlivka some 35 kilomters north of Donetsk. And moves to strengthen the force have not
been confined to Ukraine.
Many
volunteers come from Belarus, Georgia, Russia and even Spain. The National
Guard merger has led to stricter imposition of citizenship requirements, and
soldiers wishing to join the force from abroad must be granted residency in
Ukraine before taking part in military operations. The process is fast-tracked
in line with the urgent need for new recruits.
“This
is where the russkiy mir [Russian
world] is gathering. Not the one which Putin is propagandizing but the real one, the
one now coming together in support of Ukraine,” says
Semenchenko, himself Russian by nationality, referring to cultural ties between
Russian speakers.
A
recent arrival from southern Europe in his early 30s, whom one Ukrainian
soldier described as “our local celebrity,” cited strong personal reasons for
joining the Donbas Battalion. “I believe this is Ukraine’s one chance to break
through as a nation. It’s a cause I felt compelled to support,” he said,
declining to give his name for safety reasons.
Notwithstanding
the more stringent administrative policy governing admission to the
reconstituted battalion, the physical requirements remain minimal – and many of
those present at the training ground appear unprepared for the situation they
are likely set to face.
Sitting
alone in one of the thirty or so large tents that comprise the battalion’s
sleeping quarters is Ilya, a chubby, bespectacled 23-year-old from Cherkasy who
had arrived the day before. He looks nervous as he prepares to face the komissiya – a series of visual, hearing and
mental health checks all cadets must pass before they embark on the three-week
physical preparation programme.
At the shooting range across from the camp, recruits at
the other end of the training cycle simulate combat engagements under
supervision from a senior commander. Some of the men struggle to run under the
weight of the heavy weapons.
During a break in training, I ask one if he is afraid of
heading east. “When the call-up comes there is no fear,” he responds. “There remains
only the thought of defending our families and our country. Fear plays no part.”
Semenchenko expects the military stand-off between
pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian forces to continue for some time.
“In the best case scenario the active phase of the
conflict will end within seven months. But what you have to understand is those
guys [the pro-Russian insurgents] are professional mercenaries. They make $50 a
day. Until they decide that the risks outweigh the pay, they’ll keep fighting,”
he says.
Editor’s Note: This article has been produced with support from www.mymedia.org.ua, funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark and implemented by a joint venture between NIRAS and BBC Media Action, as well as Ukraine Media Project, managed by Internews and funded by the United States Agency for International Development. The content is independent of these organizations and is solely the responsibility of the Kyiv Post.
