I
will post information about this child soldier whose norm de guerre is call,
‘Slava’ from several news sources:
INTERNET
SOURCE: http://politicalhotwire.com/current-events/119030-boy-soldier.html
“Shot,” the teenager said in an
interview about the young heroes of Lysychansk
DNRespublica.info, Nov 30 2014
DNRespublica.info, Nov 30 2014
Yaroslav Alexandrovich Vashenko was
born in the city of Lisichansk in 1998. He was wanted under Article 258, Part
3, of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, for “the creation of a terrorist group or
terrorist organization.” The penalty is deprivation of liberty for a period
from 10 to 15 years, or life imprisonment. According to Ukrainian media, he was
killed on Aug 14 in Lisichansk.
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This is Yaroslav "Slava" Voskoenko,
from Lisichansk, Lugansk Oblast of what used to be Eastern Ukraine. He is 16
years old, and has been fighting among the ranks of the pro-Russian separatist
forces since May 2014.
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A:
They buried me on Aug 14. Ukrainian media reported that in Lisichansk was shot
young terrorist, Vashenko Yaroslav. But I wasn’t shot. I’m alive, I’m all good.
I was wanted under Article 258, Part 3, of the Ukrainian Criminal Code. I was
accused of terrorism. But I’m only 16 years old. I was born and raised here in
Lisichansk. What, am I a terrorist? I was declared Wanted after the first
material of the Battalion “Young Self-Defense” («Юная самооборона»)
appeared on the Internet. This material contained my photograph and stated my
name, as the name of the creator and commander of the Battalion.
Q: Please, tell about the events in Lisichansk. How you formed your guard, as it was called, how many people it was? From the very beginning.
A: First we had a little bit, just 11 people. On May 22, Ukrainian troops first attacked our city. We were 16 years old. We wanted to join the ranks of the Militia, we wanted to protect our home town. In the Militia of course, they didn’t take us. No one could take such a responsibility, because we are minors. So we decided to form our own Militia. Our battalion was called “Young Self-Defense.” Gradually our numbers increased, new people joined the battalion, we became more. Weapons almost was not. Three TT pistols, two double-barreled shotguns.
Q: Where did you get the weapons?
A: These weapons were in our town before the war. And with these weapons, our team of 11 people took part in the battle near the city of Seversk. This city was captured by Ukrainian troops; in front of it was a Ukrainian roadblock, which controlled the road to Lisichansk. We scouted, and then we worked this roadblock of the Ukrainian military, they were not very much, 4 people.
Q:
What does that mean, you worked it?
A: We disarmed it. We took trophies. We got 3 AKs, a “Myche” and an RPG. With these weapons we are back in Lisichansk. So, thus all started. Our battalion was grown in the city about us rumors, came new people, the same guys as we are 16-17 years old. Even girls who also were 16-17 years old. We did not know how to handle weapons, and studied everything ourselves, read, watched training videos.
Q: But what doctrine? You trained yourself or did you have someone in charge?
A: We were helped by a grandpa who fought in WW2. He taught us the theory, practice we have received ourselves.
Q: Tell us more about your contact with troops of Mozgovoi. You tried to join them? How was it?
A: We tried to join the militia of Mozgovoi, on May 22, when the Ukrainians for the first time attacked the Lisichansk. But then we, as battalion “Young Self-Defense”, did not exist. We were refused, on account of our age. They said we were too young. After that, we did not attempt to join the team of “Ghost”, we acted independently.
Q: It turns out, the militia didn’t help you?
A: The Brigade “Ghost” didn’t even know about our existence. We did not give our work to the public, we didn’t aspire they should know about us. We concealed our faces. So the militia did not know that there are such guys in Lisichansk.
Q: On May 22, Ukrainian troops attacked Lisichansk. And at this time the Ghost defended the neighborhood. You also fought on this day?
A: No, we were not able to join the ranks of the militia and in that day did not take part in hostilities. We were only 11 people.
Q: Let’s take a closer look at how newcomers join your battalion. They learn about you through the Internet? Or maybe the rumours?
A: According to rumours, through a friend. We tried not to disseminate information about our activities on the Internet. In the battalion, we took only the people who were tested, that will not fail.
Q: Clarify again how you got your arms, did you have any at all? Or you used the minimal arsenal of whom you spoke at the beginning?
A: Minimal arsenal. Nobody supplied us with weapons.
Q: What happened then? Tell us about your second fight.
A: Our second and last battle occurred on the day of the attack of the Ukrainian troops on Lisichansk. We did not understand the situation, did not know that the Ghost was gone from the city. And we stayed in the city. Then we tried to step back and collided with the Ukrainian army. On us advanced Ukrainian tanks, and we joined the battle. They killed a lot of guys. We lost the girl with the Callsign “Beauty”. She was 16 years old. She threw herself under a tank, with three grenades.
At this point, the reporter has inserted a photo of a
beautiful young girl, which further investigation has shown is not the girl who
heroically sacrificed herself to destroy a Ukrainian junta tank, but another
girl, who is in fact still living, in Kramatorsk. The boy says he never saw the
girl with the Callsign “Beauty”. So the boy is not in a position to verify the
photo. Therefore, the use of a wrong photo does not discredit the veracity of
his story. I have omitted the photo. I continue – RB
Q:
What pushed her to such an act, what do you think?
A: I can’t say exactly, I don’t know. I can only say that the only family she had was my father. And her father was in the militia and was killed on the front line. After that she came into our battalion. I was not familiar with her personally, I only know that she came to us two weeks before the fight. Callsign gave her “Beauty”. She was a very pretty girl.
Q: As killing the other girls? Why not run away?
A: They did not try to escape. We retreated and was also shot. But with guns against tanks and APCS… We were covered with grads and mortars. Someone was lucky, someone with no luck.
Q: Can you tell us more about the progress of the battle, the events as they unfolded?
A: It was unequal. They killed almost everyone. I… it is difficult to talk about this now. I remember… And I can’t… Before my eyes… my comrades were killed…
Q: And how did you manage to survive?
A: I don’t know. I received shrapnel wounds. I don’t remember how I got to Alchevsk, riding my motorcycle, then it stalled. Further we walked. In Alchevsk no one knew about what happened. Alchevsk is not strange for me, as I worked there, I learned. I got to the dormitory where I had lived before. We were targeted with “Grads”. A lot… a lot of guys were killed. A lot. We started out with 58 people, including 9 girls. Some of us survived and reached the Alchevsk units. Weapons were not enough for everyone. We had TT pistols, an AK automatic rifle, two “Myche”, an RPG, a sniper SVD rifle, F1 grenades, anti-personnel grenades… The battle was at the roadblock GAI, away from Lisichansk, towards the neighbourhood of Veloye Gori. There is a road in the direction of Stakhanov. We had a motorcycle with a sidecar and one car, a “Copeck” (this is a slang term for the old VAZ-2101 “Lada” – RB). Against us were 10 tanks, a rear unit BMP… How many were there, I don’t know, but a lot… The “Grads” stood a little further. That machine has forty barrels. They saw us retreating, they knew we were adolescents. But they were going to kill. They saw us and immediately began to mercilessly destroy us. We weren’t given a chance to surrender. As far as I know, it was the Battalion Donbass. Dying, the boys screamed in pain. We did not try to hold the position, we were just trying to retreat, to get back to Mozgovoi. But we were very late. After these events, our battalion was disbanded. Someone went to Lugansk, Donetsk, someone in Russia. Need to learn. I stayed in Phantom. I’m 16, I’m still a minor, the “Ghost” Brigade can’t take responsibility for me. So I don’t take part in the fighting on the front line. I am engaged in humanitarian aid. Those who went to Donetsk, continue to participate in hostilities. However, the contacts I had, I’ve lost.
Q: Specifically, how many people survived?
A: 18, including me. Four of them are girls.
Q: Can you remember the names and callsigns of the fallen comrades, their exploits?
A: Vadim Vlasenko. Can say, the hero posthumously. Hit with RPG direct fire on the tank. He was shot by the Ukrainian infantry, received a bullet from a machine. Even the guys… we had such a good guy, his name was Kostya… Wait… second. (breathes heavily). Very bold was a guy. Went against tanks and APCS with a gun and a grenade. Got a bullet in his head. We had no armor… Nothing.
Q: Do you have successors?
A: Yes, I heard, seventeen-year-old guys in the “Vostok” battalion, and in the detachment Motorola fights a seventeen year old girl, in Donetsk is a fifteen-year-old commander of the training squadron, Andrew.
Q: I heard that students of your battalion were captured. How was it?
A: After the battle of Lisichansk, two weeks passed. And three of my friends went to investigate. It was a sabotage group, their task was to destroy the warehouse with guns.
They
came to the warehouse, gave a tip, but failed to destroy it. They were taken
into captivity. Three hours later I learned that they were executed.
Q: How did you know it?
Q: How did you know it?
A: I called a peaceful inhabitant, an elderly woman. She reported that in the village of Maloryazantsevo, near Lisichansk, they shot three sixteen-year-old boys.
Q: You’re shaking. Are you cold, or is it nerves?
A: It’s just, you asked me questions that make me remember the battle at Lisichansk. Where they killed my friends, sixteen-year-old boys and girls. So it’s from nerves.
Q: Are you having nightmares?
A: I dreamed. Now ceased.
Q: Anything like a nervous breakdown? Depression? You’re not complaining? It’s difficult to get over such events.
A: No. With psyche’s all good. And depression Yes, it was. After the fight. For two days I could not sleep, eat, and constantly thought about what had happened. Gradually it went.
Q: If it’s too hard for you, we can finish the interview on another day.
A:
No. Now we’ve started, let’s finish.
Q: Why didn’t you leave for Russia? Why did you instead join the militia of Mozgovoi?
A: I will not leave my city, my land. And I will fight to the end. I’m not going to run away to Russia. I was born here, and I will remain on this earth until the end. This is my home. And I feel ashamed and hurt to look at those men who went to Russia as refugees. I can’t call them men.
Q: What is your attitude to the policy of Ukraine, to the modern ideology? To what they write in the Ukrainian media?
A: I was watching the news TSN, the 1+1 TV channel, and I almost believed that I was a cruel killer. They lie a lot. For example, they write, say in the Referendum we were forced to vote at gun point. But no, it’s a lie. Everyone who watched the referendum, saw this movement… Queue… People were to vote for independence. Ukrainian media want to show their best side, but they do not gain from that… They broadcast lies.
Q:
Tell us what you do. What are you famous for, besides that they are a member of
the militia?
A: Before the war I studied music such as rnb and rap, I wrote songs and sang them, I gave concerts, I took a place in music competitions and festivals held in Lugansk. For example, “gold category”. Now I almost don’t make music. I’m more engaged in military subjects.
Q: Besides music, what hobbies do you have?
A: Sports, athletics. Shooting.
Q: And now you are doing?
A: I am in the team of “Ghost” in the humanitarian Department. Engaged in humanitarian work. And still I am learning. Time to learn. Specialty “welder”.
Q:
How many years you have left to learn?
A: Two years with this. Then I can study two more years and get the specialty “Junior specialist”.
Q: And how do you imagine your career and future career?
A: I don’t. Conditions do not allow. It is unclear what will happen next.
Q: And if it were not for the war, what city would you like to live and work in? What company?
A: In my native city of Lysychansk, there’s an oil refinery, which, incidentally, was fired by the Ukrainian troops and now does not work.
Q: Music now is not engaged, it may be, write poems? What was your work and what you want to write now?
A: Yes, I collect material about military action, but here I don’t have a studio to record the tracks. I’ve written lyrics for songs, it was lyrics, songs about life. Now I write poems about Lisichansk, about military action. The clips I filmed, there is one polyclip (полуклип). The song is called Lugansk Republic. The clip is assembled from a video about the events that are now here we come. Music education I have, but I’ve always thought about life, wrote poetry. The first song was recorded in 14 years, it was called “Friends”.
Q: What will you write next?
A: Similarly, about life, about love.
Q: On the Internet you can explore your creativity?
A: It is possible, even in Yandex or Google. My creative nickname is “Brash Rapper”.
Q: Ever thought about going to Russia and becoming creative? There would be the opportunity to work in a good studio.
A: I don’t want to. This is my home, my homeland. A recording studio… all this can not be for my honour and the honour of my country.
Q: When you become an adult, if the war will not end, will you go to the front?
A: Of course.
Q: And what can you do, what will you do on the front?
A: I have a lot of know-how. But I can just dig the trenches. I can shoot, I can throw grenades.
Q: How were you in school, as a student?
A: 1 to 5 class, I was an excellent student, to 8th grade excellent grades, 9th grade graduated from high. So got. Probably, adolescence was… I wanted everything at once.
Q: Driving licence?
A: No.
Q: But you know how to drive?
A: I can drive, yes.
Q: Why did you come to Mozgovoi?
A: I trust him. I know him from these places. He’s local. He was born here. This is a personal sympathy.
Q: Did you ever have a desire to go somewhere, go on vacation?
A: Yes, I went to Moscow for a week. To see the city and relax.
Q: And how did you like the city?
A: Well, people… People are different. I saw a guy with a girl, and this girl was like a guy… And it was a guy. In general, as far as I understood, the Muscovites do not help each other, they help only if you have money. We Donbass no such thing. I was in Rostov, Voronezh. Voronezh reservoir is very beautiful… Rostov is the sister city of Lugansk. In Rostov and Voronezh, people are simpler than in Moscow. It is difficult to explain how it appears. I can say this: they’re not people like us. It’s difficult.
Memory eternal adolescents who sacrificed their
lives for the freedom and independence of their Motherland!
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