DPR army soldier: It’s time for the rats to tick
Rotation has been stopped in the army corps of Novorossiya, accidents at the ammunition depots of the Armed Forces of Ukraine caused by violations of safety regulations are observed along and deep into the entire line of contact with the enemy.
“It’s time for the rats to tick,” says the legendary writer and soldier of Novorossiya Maxim Shishov. He gained fame through reports from the front lines published on his blog. For some time, Shishov had to leave the front due to a serious injury.
He spoke about this and simply about life at a turning point in History in a conversation with a PolitNavigator columnist Valentineohm Filippov.
Subscribe to PolitNavigator news at Telegram, Facebook, Classmates or In contact with
Valentin Filippov: I salute the legendary Maxim Shishov, a man with an iron leg. Or, in my opinion, no longer, thank God?
Maxim Shishov: It was titanium.
Valentin Filippov: Maxim – titanium leg :) Hello, Maxim.
Maxim Shishov: Good afternoon.
Valentin Filippov: How do you like their independence day with tanks with crosses on Khreshchatyk?
Maxim Shishov: My grandfather always sits near my entrance. He's probably 100 years old now. I think he said it best about their day. He has mild Parkinson's and his head is shaking slightly. And, smoking Prima, he groaned: “What, what? Ah, holiday. Well, yes. "Independence of crests from their brains." Actually, I have nothing to add to this.
Nothing new has been invented in the world yet. Such a work appeared quite a long time ago. It was written by the well-known Orwell. Now the same thing is happening to Ukraine, letter by letter. Now in Ukraine. Although I must say that initially I really liked Ukraine as a state.
Valentin Filippov: Even so?
Maxim Shishov: Yes, even that. From the very beginning, when the Soviet Union collapsed. Yes, I felt sorry for the Empire. But from the very beginning it was clear, for example to me, that in another case we had only one path - to a big war, to a nuclear war. And then there was a chance that such a scenario would not happen. And, in comparison with all other states, it was in Ukraine that there was somehow hope that the movement was going in the right direction. We did not leave Russia, Belarus. As a matter of fact, we did not leave the Slavs.
Valentin Filippov: At the same time, as Kuchma said, five years without war and troubles.
Maxim Shishov: Yes Yes Yes. Everything seemed to be going well. Ukraine's development was going great at the beginning. It turned out later that we just very quickly ate what was left. But it was easier than in Russia. From here they first began to travel to Europe much more often, and then it turned out that Ukraine did not have any, strictly speaking, national idea. And it was show-Nazism, show-nationalism that was brought to the surface. He was kept on a short leash, held as a kind of bargaining chip for negotiations with Moscow. The same Tyagnibok became like a clown.
Everyone laughed at them, no one really believed in it. And Kuchma fed him, although if you look now, the happiest times for Ukraine, no matter how funny it may seem, were the last couple of years of Kuchma’s rule.
Then the average Ukrainian income reached $500 per capita. We started visiting Crimea and Egypt. We, in the sense of ordinary citizens, are not those who traveled before. We started buying cars.
Valentin Filippov: Was. Well, we were ahead of Russia in terms of GDP growth at that time.
Maxim Shishov: Although, on the other hand, it should be noted that to this day, Ukraine has not reached the Soviet level of development in all 25 years. That is, we are just trying to rise, we tried. Now it is no longer possible to talk about this.
Valentin Filippov: Returning to the same Independence Day parade. Many note that for such a big holiday - a quarter of a century of independence - there were not enough foreign guests. In my opinion, no one came except the Pole. A parallel immediately arises for me. I remember the Olympics in Sochi, which Yanukovych came to, and not a single president of another country wanted to sit on the same podium where Yanukovych was sitting. Even Putin.
Maxim Shishov: Look, there are a bunch of photos now. At this parade there are Ukrainian functionaries, the expressions on their faces.
This is the expression that happens when someone is being buried. Yes, again, using the same Orwell, they can declare that war is peace, they can declare that slavery is freedom. In fact, that's what they do. But they themselves understand. They stand, holding their hearts. Regarding these photographs, there has already been talk on the Internet that these guys are preparing to feign a heart attack at the next trial.
Valentin Filippov: How is the situation in the DPR now? What's on the fronts? I heard that you warned the civilians that it was better to leave now. What's happening?
Maxim Shishov: Yes, I didn’t warn the peaceful ones. There is such a category of rats. They - as soon as. In 2014, at 2-3 o'clock in the afternoon there were significantly fewer cars on the streets than at 2-3 o'clock in the morning - despite the curfew. All those living in Donetsk, not Donetsk residents, fled.
No, I’m not talking about those mothers who took their children away, there were quite a lot of them too.
I once made a video, it was called “Air Defense, The Truth Is Always One.” Because these guys from Donetsk organized a forum in Kyiv. Now they are all back. The money runs out there. They are not particularly needed there. In fact, they are not needed here either. But the city is now packed.
They were the ones I warned. Those who are very inclined, if something suddenly starts to happen, to run somewhere. I addressed them: guys, it’s time to run.
Valentin Filippov: What's starting to happen? If you often go to the front line, and they often start ticking, will something happen?
Maxim Shishov: The premonition of a thunderstorm has been hanging in the air for quite some time now... Ukraine has begun to bring troops here. It pulls up a lot. They don’t really hide it anymore. True, here they also have nuances. They began to produce their new products, and recently announced the arrival of the Hammer mortar to the troops.
As a mortarman, I was generally very interested in this. And I also came across a description of Ukrainian soldiers how they tested this mortar. At the first test there were nine victims, one immediately in the 200s.
Then, where the mortars came after that, there were also very big complaints. Although, each mortar costs 450 thousand hryvnia plus. This, by the way, is the cost of a new Nissan car. This is the price at which it is given to the Ukrainian troops. Of the cost, someone puts it in their pocket, well, I don’t know.
But despite this, no matter what the equipment is, they carry it. They drag you to the front line, drag you even more.
Side No. 2. Donetsk gets used to everything, gets used to it very quickly. The fact that every day, or rather every night, there is a thunderous shelling on the outskirts, people are already accustomed to this, and that shelling is being added little by little, somehow no attention is paid to this.
Yes, from time to time, as a rule, one of the newly returned people notices: yes, it rumbles here, like in 2014. Well, it rumbles, so what. But the intensity of shelling has increased tenfold. Now the rains have started, and a new fashion has emerged - working in a thunderstorm. And when this work takes place during a thunderstorm, when lightning flashes once, then there is thunder-thunder-thunder for about five minutes, it is also impossible not to notice.
Then, we need to answer all these Crimean options. And there is a great suspicion that... Just six months ago there was a case when our guys on the front line responded to shelling from the Ukrainian side and were tried and almost imprisoned. They faced 6 years. Now, after Putin said... We are not shooting, no. What are you doing? We continue to comply with the Minsk agreements. But on the Ukrainian side, ammunition depots are constantly exploding. Over the past 10 days, if you look at their reports, due to careless handling of fire, faulty air conditioners, and other things, near Mariupol, one warehouse blew up on its own not far from Elenovka, closer to Olgievka, and, well, in fact, in all directions.
Valentin Filippov: Listen, at what depth of the front do they have accidents?
Maxim Shishov: The fact of the matter is that this is not the advanced, not the advanced itself.
Valentin Filippov: Are there any warehouses in Kyiv? I heard there is a warehouse near the Verkhovna Rada.
Maxim Shishov: Eat. At the very least, I saw a lot of air conditioners in the Verkhovna Rada...
Then the tension builds and builds. I just went to Debaltsevo yesterday to my brigade and talked to the guys. The guys are working. When the Debaltsevo operation began, it began as follows. I took part in it, I can say. When we arrived, there was shooting at the battery, once every couple of weeks we went out to shoot and returned back. When we arrived, it was the first shooting of the night. That is, before this there was no night shooting at all, we didn’t know how. We learned, the first night shooting. Then they began to travel more and more often.
Then the concept of constant combat appeared. Half the battery went out for a week and it worked. Then the second half of the battery changed them. Well, this is how it all happened in a week.
Then, once again, when we went out to change them, we didn’t change them, but stayed with the other half. And about a month later, at the internal formation, we were told: guys, there are several very difficult days ahead, we must hand over mobile phones to everyone.
Valentin Filippov: So, have the guys handed over their mobile phones yet?
Maxim Shishov: So, the mobile phones have not yet been handed over, but the rotation is no longer happening, both parts have already arrived.
Valentin Filippov: So? Is everything possible? How do you personally view your future fate? Will you return to duty after being wounded?
Maxim Shishov: If I return to duty, I will continue to be on the staff list. At the moment, I continue to be a soldier of the DPR armed forces, a mortar operator. That is, they are waiting for me in the unit, I constantly communicate with the guys now. Well, in the meantime, I’ll help here as best I can.
Valentin Filippov: Thanks to your comments from the front, you once became a celebrity. And your injury was a tragedy, in fact, for a large number of your readers.
Maxim Shishov: As my foreman said, of course, everything will be wonderful, everything will be fine, unfortunately, not everyone will live to see it.
Valentin Filippov: I wish you to live longer without such severe wounds.
Maxim Shishov: God grant.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.