Thread by @AzraelOrchestra

My 6 months in IL

1. Before I start the complete story, I would just like to say that I arrived to Ukraine shortly after the start of the conflict. The current conditions are now completely different. On the 28 february I was landing in Poland and heading towards Ukraine. Already in Poland there

2. was a lot of chaos everywhere. A lot of people were leaving Ukraine. Fortunately, I met two Norwegians at the airport and they had secured transport to Ukraine. We got to Kiev relatively quickly. Already in the car, they were bragging about where the where serving. Honestly,

3. The year in Afghanistan didn't seem like anything extra but I was quite. I therefore kept silent about my missions in Syria. We arived to Kyiv. There was chaos in Kiev, a lot of soldiers everywhere. We reached the base for the international legion and its training. I was

4. surprised that they didn't want much from us. The Norwegians looked forward to telling where they had been. Nobody really cared. The only thing they wanted to know was what country we were from and if we know how to use a gun. I decided to stick with those two. I got into a

5. smaller group that consisted mainly people from Scandinavia and the Baltic states. In Ukraine, they thought that we speak the same or similar language and that way we will understand each other. There was also a Finn in the group who could not speak English. No one understood

6. a word he said. We didn't know Finnish either (he disappeared after a week) in the end I was lucky and I met a guy from Estonia, his name was Ivo Jurak and he was a former member of EDF. He was always closest to me from all people. At the start I got a AK47, a helmet,vest and

7. That was all. I was very lucky that I had my own uniform and other things. Otherwise I would have nothing. We went through training for about two days. Then they immediately sent us to Kharkov. My first event was absolutely insane. The Russians bombar€ed the village all day

8. and we were supposed to move at night to another village which was about 4 kilometers away from the first one. During the day, the Ukrainians lost around 150 people at that village but they still decided to take the village. Our commander realized that it was su!cide and so we

9. Were taken out from the event. But they did not recall the other units. The Russians were waiting for them and surrounded them from behind through the forest. They sh0t them all. Another 70 Ukrainians d!ed there that evening. These reckless suici€e missions were repeated very

10. often. It was normal in the Legion. The big problem in Ukraine is bureaucracy. Ukrainians don't wanna hear anything from others. They are very confident about Western help. In UA I met dozens professionals who understood the military. But the ukraian commanding officer was

11. usually an id!ot or a person who had never had anything to do with the army. Most didn't like that and left. A lot of foreigners who were supposed to have experience were also brought to trenches In the end it came out that they just had a big mouth and didn't know anything.

12. Ukraians immediately forced everyone to the front and they didn't care about anything else, so there were often conflicts. There was also desperately little food. I'm not even talking about water. I have often seen videos of Ukrainian troops sending sad messages to the

13. president that they have nothing to eat and nothing to sho0t with. But there wasn't much you could do about it at the time. Western weapons arrived later. However, no one know how to sho0t with them. But no one cared, you just got it and had to sho0t Also, only one in the

14. group had a radio. Others were unlucky. We often went to events where someone had to cover for us. Unfortunately, our cover left positions and we were left without cover. The Russians then fired at us for 2 hours straight. We had no choice but to lie down and pray. There were

15. also often a conflict between soldiers. As there was not much food, the soldiers were able to sho0t themselves even for the last cigarettes. When we had time off, we filled it with alcohol and some guys with prostit€tes. I really admired those girls because a lot of guys had

16. problems with hygiene. About the money. The monthly salary was around €1000. But only if you were in combat. If not, it was not so much. But they paid a lot for tanks or a helicopter that you stole from Russians. Not many people could do that. The money was usually very late

17. sometimes two months late. We often had to pay for things from our own pocket. Than My contract ended. They urged me to stay. But I didn't sign it. I remember how Ruslan screamed at me. That I am a zero and that others will come instead of me. About 20 other guys were

18. leaving with me. He said a replacement would come that he is not worried. Unfortunately, none came, and I know from my contacts that more and more foreigners are leaving the legion. The legion is under the GUR and it could be the strongest unit if there would be someone

19. capable and not a bunch of id!ots who think that we will risk our lives and d!e for them. So I left. I returned back to Estonia. I was there for about a month and I didn't know what I was going to do next. PTSD was coming up on me and I felt terrible. I met a few other

20. comrads who came back and were in a similar situation. I was slowly starting to fall into alcoholism. I went to see my family in Scandinavia. There I found out that Oskar my friend Who never forget about the death of our friends from the legion committed suicide.

21. He was injured in Ukraine and they gave him opiates in large quantities. He had a big addiction that he couldn't get rid of. But no one wanted to prescribe him any opiates at home. So he hang€d himself. That took me really down. My sister couldn't look at me anymore, so she

22. packed my things, loaded them into the car and kicked me out in the middle of nature right by a beautiful lake. I won't mention the name. I camped there for about two days, fishing which is my favorite hobby. One night a quiet guy joined me. He turned out to be

23. Wagner - mercenary who just had a day off and decided to rest. He told me a lot about the Wagners. I didn't quite want to believe it. I met the Wagners in Syria and they weren't very good. But I saved the contact and we said goodbye. I went back home and thought

24. about it. After about a week, I announced to my family that I am going to Russia and would join Wagner. My parents gone crazy. They threatened, cried and so on. Despite everything, I went to Russia. But that's another part of the story.

25. But there were not only negative things in Ukraine. There were also a lot of positive things. I met a group of absolutely wonderful guys that I am still in touch even though they're on the other side now. Truth is, most of them went home or are sadly d€ad 🕯️