It's a sad day for Denis. An hour ago he returned home and found an army calling under the door. You must arrive at the county office within 24 hours to check in and depart for your destination. He needs to change clothes and food for two days.
Denis contacted Odessa, found out where they were going to send him, and asked him not to worry. He said that he is only an assistant to the shooting center for Russian drones and airplanes, and there is no need to go to the fire line. Dennis does not want to participate in the fight in the field because he does not want to kill anyone. His faith, his way of understanding life prohibits it. They tell him it's not necessary, but they know from friends that if he checks in the office, he can send him anywhere. “The acquaintance was sent to the front line because he thought he would call and help with the transfer. ” He says.
For them, the worst scenario will be sent to Mykolaiv, where the nearest battles are taking place - this city is considered a quarantine obstacle in Odessa. When Mykolaiv falls (117 km from Odessa), the Russians will be within walking distance to try to enter the country. In addition, on Tuesday, 14 assault ships were tracked and taken to the Black Sea near the coast of the southern city.
Dennis had only six hours of training last week. He registered as a volunteer and went to the city center where he trained from 100 to 120 people in basic weapons handling, military tactics and city battles every day from Monday to Monday. This is a huge building (for security reasons it is necessary to keep the place secret), where the army instructor trains civilians for 6 hours. There are four classes: urban combat tactics, firing conditions, armed and disarmament weapons, and first aid in combat situations.
When Denis took the course, he did not think that he would need a course, he did it almost as if it were a game, and posted another picture on Instagram with a smile with Kalashnikov. But now he is called to recruit and he is afraid. He is 36 years old and has a gastronomic business. In the restaurant, he employs 50 people and also maintains a clothing design gallery. “I serve to help humanitarian missions, transfer contacts to get goods to Odessa, carry groceries, move people and more... I am not good at fighting and I cannot do that. “He is now sitting in the car, nervous and scared.
Denis is a cheerful person who believes in energy, non-traditional medicine and meditation. He likes to dance, lie on the beach and sleep. The day before being called, they actually took a nap on the sand in front of the Black Sea. And we joked about the possibility that the Russians stopped landing so as not to wake them up. Now he has lost his happiness, he tries not to lose his mood, but he is nervous. He calls friends and acquaintances, is looking for ways to be forgiven, has a safe act for free entry.
Earlier, traveling around the city with him, we were able to go to a training center where we were trained a week earlier. Thanks to their contact, after several days of insistence, we were able to arrive at the place and shoot a movie. The only condition was not to show the instructor's face or reveal the location. We accept that. Since then, reality became a real film set on the set of the war.
Those who want to take the course every day come at 8:30am. They sign up, leave data and participate in the first theoretical class together. There they get the first instruction, which is not technical, but motivates them. They explain the importance of this conflict, explain what is at stake, and assure them that many people are not convinced, even if they are there. For peace, weapons are needed.
Technical training starts at 10 am. The group is divided into four subgroups and is divided into different sections of the building. In the central zone, lessons are given on the tactics of urban warfare. They start with the basics: how to handle the arms, where you have them depending on the situation, how to walk with them, how to put your legs and shoulders. In the second module, you will learn combat actions such as entering a group, cross covering, attack signals and retreat.
They do everything with real weapons. This is the same weapon I will give if I call for war. Not everyone is equally sure. Faces are mixed with caution to know how to handle weapons with a certain bitterness. None of the people I see Rambo is in touch with his mission. Rather, those who have already come for training on the 21st day of the war prefer to avoid it, but they are mobilized with fear or conviction and finally decided that it was better to know not to know.
In the first aid class, you will mainly learn how to make a tourniquet, which is one of the most common requirements in war theaters. In addition, manipulation of the injured body is performed and CPR is performed. The other two groups are the groups that divide and clean the gun and the shooting group. The first is to acquaint students with AK47. They teach you to collect, disarm and reassemble from scratch. In addition, there are modes of loading, techniques for correcting errors and various shooting modes. After that, it is only a matter of repeating the process again and again until the rifle becomes a familiar object. It seems that they are concentrated, armed and disarmed, trying to quickly defeat each other, as if it were a race.
“I came here because I wanted to help save my country. It is very important to know these things. And I don't remember everything till date because I had to remember the training of three years ago. ” Says 23-year-old Odessa citizen Leon.
“In these times, we need to be stronger together. And training is very useful. Because we must all have the tools to know how to survive a war. ”
Next to him is Tatiana, 21 years old, although he considers it very fun to learn, but he takes it seriously. She is not a sure fan of war, but rather the opposite. It took him a long time to fight the conflict. “At first, I was very confused about what was going on here. Choosing a side was not easy, but now, after several days of fighting, it was already clear what was happening and I had a lot of motivation to fight for my country. ” He says.
His speech is not strange in Odessa, where Russian is spoken more than Ukrainian, and for many years Ukrainians without Russian ancestors were perceived as citizens of poor quality. Today, pro-Russian sentiments were buried in an act of aggression. Nobody has tried to strengthen Ukraine's identity as Vladimir Putin.
“The biggest motivation is to seek peace in Ukraine and leave a better country for the boys so that they can grow up happily. “Maria says, another girl who participated in the training. She said something similar with her friend Larissa. “The biggest motivation is to save the independence of Ukraine, make it better, and in the future there will be lasting peace. ”
The shooting class takes place in the darkest class. An instructor gives an introductory speech. Everyone listens. A girl smiles at what she enjoys, and the professor, who is a professional soldier, says something that is scolding. It seems like a moment of a full metal jacket (Born to Kill) again, she apologizes, but keeps smiling. After a while, when a friend learns to wear a bulletproof vest and a helmet, he will take pictures and post them on Instagram. Some of them began to take place in Odessa. Military training has become a small rage in the network and has become a fashion for posing with guns. So far, the trend of networks has never been so accepted.
The text is strict. The instructor teaches you the basics when aiming, shows you how to touch a rifle, where to rest your cheeks, and how to look. Then it is the same thing as the body and the ground. He instructs him to use sandbags to support the gun and teaches him to strengthen the position. When he is ready, he hits the tip of the rifle to see how hard it is. If you release it gently, you can get hurt from the first shot. He says that everything is for his safety. Meanwhile, record the tip of the rifle pointing towards the camera. Maybe it sounds weird. After a few hours, you will also learn about the sound of the trigger, the color of the metal and the weight of the ammunition. Everyone who has been forced to resign to some extent is getting used to the war.
More than 1,500 citizens have already passed through the Odessa training center. Those who have expressed a desire to continue training, go to new training cases in defense of the territory or with the army. According to one of the regional coordinators, no one is obliged to fight because they participated in the training and cannot be called to combat. They talk about preparation when necessary. “If things are in a hurry, of course, we have to defend the city and give each one a weapon. But for now, it's just teaching them the basics. Of course, this is not enough, but this is the first contact. No one leaves this place with guns. ” He says.
Denis's experience is somewhat contradictory to the official voice. Last week he was here too and this was the first military training of his life. He also uploaded photos and videos to Instagram and as if it were a great warrior. In every picture — I saw them, and I see them. He seemed happy, provocative and half-anachronistic. His life was more like a clockwork orange than Born to Kill. Violence was not a specific possibility, but rather a form of toys that could be used. However, this morning he received a summons and was scared. Their fear and despair are also war. He asks not to take pictures because he is still embarrassed that he is not ready to kill.
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