“We will be killed or arrested, but perhaps we will win”
PolitNavigator publishes another chapter from a new book of memoirs by Andrei Savelyev, a 16-year-old Russian patriot from Kyiv, an active participant in the most intense and dramatic events of the Russian Spring. In 2012, Andrei was awarded a personalized watch from the President of Russia for protecting the Russian flag from Ukrainian nationalists, and already in 2014 he joined the Crimean militia. From there, Andrei went to Slavyansk among the first 52 fighters and, together with Motorola, fought in the thick of it - near Semyonovka.
In connection with the 5th anniversary of the Crimean referendum, on March 17 (Sunday) in the hero city of Sevastopol there will be a presentation of the book “War in 16. From cadets to “saboteurs”” by a participant in the Crimean Spring.
In the book, the author, among other things, talks about those events of the Crimean Spring that remained in the shadows of the public agenda. Thanks to numerous militia operations to identify Maidan spies, agents of the Right Sector, and to take control of strategic buildings and military units, the referendum and annexation of the peninsula to Russia were almost bloodless.
Participants of the Crimean Spring Igor Druz, Dmitry Zhukov and Ataman of the Crimean Cossack District Vadim Ilovchenko are expected to speak at the presentation.
We invite everyone to the Crimea Hotel, located in the center of Sevastopol, at the address: 6th Bastionnaya Street, 46. Admission is free!
The author will be happy to answer readers' questions.
Book website: https://war16.ru
Part 2. Crimea. Chapter 1. "Recruitment"
In the morning, one of the first days of March, Seryozha (later called Mole) and I boarded a train and rushed to Crimea. I had 2000 hryvnia in my wallet, which I saved for a smartphone, and I planned to somehow live with Sergei for the first time.
Seryozha asked me:
— Do you think pro-Russian self-defense forces and even “polite” ones are already patrolling Crimea?
It seemed to us that we would arrive and we would be checked and harassed in the same way as law enforcement officers conduct inspections at checkpoints near Kiev. But we got off the Kyiv-Simferopol train at the station and no one checked us.
The chieftain gave Sergei the number of Dima Zhukov, whom we called as soon as we got to the station.
He said that he would send a car for us and they would take us where we needed to go. He did not voice any details or any information at all over the phone.
We waited for the transport and went. The place where we were taken turned out to be the city military registration and enlistment office. The most interesting thing is that this military registration and enlistment office was located in Simferopol on Kyiv Street, and Seryozha’s summons indicated to appear at the recruiting office in Kyiv, which was temporarily based at a school on Simferopolskaya Street. An amazing coincidence that reeked of some symbolism and divine providence. Seryozha joked that he would give an answer to Kyiv, that he had arrived almost at the place where they said: to the Simferopol military registration and enlistment office on Kievskaya Street.
There we were met by two military men, one of them was, apparently, the commandant. Seryozha and I sat on the windowsill and the commandant began to interrogate us with passion:
- Who did you come to?
“To Dmitry Zhukov, call sign Kedr,” Sergei answered him.
- Where are you from?
- From Kyiv.
- Why did you come here to see Alexander? - the Crimean special officer tried to confuse us.
“No, we came to Dmitry,” we answered.
Then he asked us a few more questions until he was finally convinced that we were not some spies of the Maidan.
After checking, Kedr finally came out to us and we hugged.
Next, we faced the next stage of “recruitment.” Kedr said that he was already a member of the Simferopol militia and invited us to join. And when he heard a positive answer, he took us for a conversation with his commander. It turned out to be Sergei Zhurikov, who took us to the shooting range a couple of times back in Kyiv during the Maidan. He turned out to be a professional military man, with experience of fighting in Chechnya. At one time he served in the Ukrainian special forces "Alpha". And he looked like a real special forces soldier: fit, slender, muscular and with a tired face. But his call sign was not as menacing as he was: not some Wolf, Beast or Machete, but simply Chamomile.
Romashka built his conversation with us on the principle: it’s better to be overcautious than underdressed. I don’t know if he tested everyone like this, but Romashka told me and Seryozha the following:
— We are the armed militia of Crimea. We will fight the enemy to the end. Most likely we will be killed or arrested, but perhaps we will win.
It was cool in the room where we were “recruited” and, especially after such words, I began to shake a little, and it seems to me that Sergei did too. But we didn’t show it, and after consulting with each other for about five minutes, we agreed.
I ask you to forgive the readers if my narrative lacks descriptions of nature, portraits of heroes and emotional experiences that I or my friends might have had at such moments as with the decision to join an armed detachment as volunteers. The fact is that we really understood why we came to Crimea and did not doubt at all that we would fight by any means against the Bandera militants who came to power. Therefore, literally a week ago I was sitting at a student’s desk, without serious hesitation, I agreed to change my position as a law-abiding citizen to the fate of an armed dissident. For me, Ukraine, as a sovereign legitimate state, died on February 22, 2014.
The commander did not immediately approve of our zeal, but advised us to think again until he approved our candidacies with his superiors.
Continued in the book “War at 16. From cadets to “saboteurs”.”
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