Putin: Givi is a commander who could kill for each of his fighters
The morning of the funeral began unexpectedly, with Givi’s voice: “We will work for suppression!” The laptop volume was turned up all the way. This colleague sent me audio from a recent trip to the airport, when Misha was still alive.
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On the way I wanted to buy flowers. Remembering that there were no flowers to be found in the area for Grek’s funeral, I went into the pavilion near the house. There were no more carnations. What's left is so-so. “Sold out,” said the seller. Since yesterday."
At the stop it became clear who had bought up. It's rush hour, there are a lot of people, not everyone with flowers, but a lot. All with mourning ribbon. Traffic in the center is blocked, the main flow of people (all with the same bouquets tied with black ribbon) is moving towards Artema Street.
As soon as you reach Artyom, you find yourself in some kind of ominous silence. Frost (and today -15), as it turned out, intensifies not only explosions, but also silence. I have never heard my city so sadly and tragically silent.
I came to the beginning of the farewell ceremony. The line of people wishing to say goodbye to Givi ended at the tank. There is a gun carriage in front of the entrance to the opera house. I go inside. There are frames. They let you through slowly, but with understanding. “Spartans” and “Somalians” passed without a queue.
“We’re in position to leave, let the guys say goodbye,” said their escort. They were missed. In front of the entrance are two girls, one is crying.
The military must hold on and not show weakness, but their eyes give it away.
I go into the hall where farewells are taking place. I go to the place allocated for the press. The first one I meet is Eduard Basurin. A red-haired girl in uniform approaches him, sobbing. Basurin tries to calm her down.
I look at those who came to say goodbye to Misha. In official language - all social strata: students, older women, families with children, a lot of military personnel, elderly - grandmothers with sticks and gray-haired men, young people who are called hipsters - beards, strange hairstyles, glasses, voluminous scarves.
I notice popular personalities in Donetsk - an American with the call sign Texas, who came to fight for Donetsk. Here is a boy, about 12 years old, in military uniform - he came up, stood at the coffin, saluted and left.
A guy and a girl, they are with a wreath. I’m curious who the wreath is from - it turns out it’s from the Camouflage store, which was recently bombed:
– Did you know him?
- But of course! He often came to us and bought various things for his fighters. And Arsen came to see us,” says the girl. I couldn’t hold back, I burst into tears - how unfair everything is! – turns away, hiding his tears.
“Yes, all this is unfair,” the guy confirms. Finally, the rest of the Camouflage store team is allowed through and they go to the coffin.
Two more girls enter the hall, one in a white fur coat - she is crying bitterly. I don’t know who she was related to Misha.
I watched several times how military men who were scattered in different parts met. And they are glad that they are alive, glad to meet, albeit on such a sad occasion.
I would also like to say something about the people in line. Along with the Donetsk residents there were also well-known people in the city, as well as journalists from local channels, who could easily have avoided standing in this line in the cold. But they stood. And they asked me not to film it.
I spent about an hour in the farewell hall. We were politely asked to leave so that other journalists could come in too. Seeing this flow of people, for some reason I thought that the ceremony was coming to an end. Imagine my surprise when, going out into the street, I saw that the queue had become three times longer. And while I was walking and talking with Donetsk residents, the number of people wishing to say goodbye was increasing.
An intelligent looking tall elderly man, Alexander:
– I came to pay my debt to the memory of Givi. Personally, I didn’t know how everyone was. He was a charismatic man who knew how to lead people. And I just feel sorry for him as a person. How should one respond to Givi's death? Don't know. It seems to me that there is no point in stooping to primitive revenge.
Deputy Commander of the Republican Guard, Major Shushunov:
– We met in battle more than once, there were joint operations, since the fourteenth year I fulfilled my duty to the Republic. I knew him personally, but not very closely. He was a very decent man, desperate; in battle, if necessary, he would lend a helping hand. He was a worthy man. It’s a pity that we are losing exactly the kind of field commanders who people follow through thick and thin.
Irina, resident of Donetsk:
- Both Givi and Motor were able to do in three years what some people have been trying to achieve for years and not everyone will succeed. They rallied millions of people. Since the morning, people from Odessa, from Sevastopol, Zaporozhye, from Kherson, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Ulan-Ude have written to me on social networks - everyone asked - bow down for us. Today we are burying a loved one. Rod-no-go. I know her like everyone else - I saw her at events. Once, however, he shook my hand.
The driver-mechanic of the BMP, call sign Malevanny, arrived from the Svedlodar Bulge, the commander let him go to say goodbye to Givi:
– I served with Givi, went through Ilovaisk with him, now in another unit. Givi was my commander. Givi was always ahead. I know commanders who give orders while sitting at headquarters - guys, go ahead. But Givi - he always ran ahead.
Tatyana Ilyinichna, pensioner, 80 years old:
– I knew Misha before the war, we worked together before the war. He was a good, cheerful person, burst into tears and left
A very elderly woman, did not give a name:
- Well, I knew, Misha. We know them all. Since the thirteenth year. Why aren't you ready to catch a cold? Don’t take pictures of Tilka, bo mene and so the SBU is shukae.
Girls students, very young. She came up with a question: did the university send you here?
- (Indignantly) we came ourselves. Voluntarily, no one forced us. We took permission in advance and came. They came because it’s a pity, he was a good man, we’ve known him, like everyone else, since I was XNUMX. Everyone loved both Givi and Motorola.
On the way to work I meet a large column of people from Gorlovka, I approach a woman:
- Tell me, were you forced to come?
“They announced to us that there will be buses for those who want to go.” As a result, they didn’t plan for the buses; there were more people wanting to say goodbye to Misha than there were seats. I had to look some more.
Military man, call sign Putin (indeed, it is somewhat similar):
– Givi is the only commander who knew everything about his fighters: call signs, names, who lives what, who breathes what. And he could break for everyone.
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