"We are transporting man. There was piece of shrapnel sticking out of his body side, bullet was pulled from his leg, and he said: "I feel somehow crappy, it must be blood pressure. It’s 190, little high!" - Oleksandr Nikolov, evacuation vehicle driver and artist
He holds a degree in conductor, and he used to earn his keep by designing and creating. However, in his past life. Today, 47-year-old Oleksandr Nikolov is the driver of an evacuation vehicle in the 47th Brigade’s medical company.
"Censor.NET has already spoken to him about a year ago; it's time to update impressions. I also ask Sashko (hypocoristic Sashko is for Oleksandr is - ed. note) how his son Yurii, who is fighting in the Da Vinci artillery, is doing; and what he thinks about the attacks of sordid anonymous telegram channels on his older brother, the famous investigative journalist Yurii Nikolov.
In addition, Oleksandr Nikolov is a surprisingly good artist, and his sketches about the war leave no one indifferent, and in this interview, we also asked the author to tell us about the circumstances of some of his works. Listening was no less interesting than watching...
- The last time we spoke was almost a year ago, which is an eternity in war. Let us fill in this time period for our readers. So, in which direction are you fighting now, how many people are in your crew and has the specifics of your work changed in any way?
- We are currently working in the Avdiivka direction. There are two of us in the crew, like in almost all crews nowadays. And yes, the specifics have changed, and by the time you publish the interview, everything may have changed, because the situation is very dynamic. But right now, we are mostly transporting from the stabilization point. Especially after we withdrew from Avdiivka. The need for doctors in the crew is not so critical anymore; they are more needed in hospitals and at stabilization point areas. That's why we have a crew of medics and a driver.
- Do most of the wounded, like last summer, have shrapnel wounds? Are there any changes?
- There are more bullet wounds and wounds from fpv drones.
- During your shift, did any of the wounded die in the evacuation vehicle?
- Not yet, thanks to God and doctors.
- When were you most afraid this year? What will you tell your kid about, if he asks you, after the end of the war?
- The worst thing for me was to join the army (smiles. - Ye.K.) I was mobilized in March of that year. They told me that when you join, you'll be ready to go to war in about a week for a counteroffensive. And there, a week turned into 2-3 months. And it was scary at that time when you were going and you didn't know where you were going. I hold a degree in conductor, and I've been earning my keep by designing and creating for almost all my life. In other words, I and military affairs are completely different worlds. All my combat experience was in the street. And then there's this story - you find yourself in a completely new reality. I think uncertainty is stressful for anyone. Especially if this uncertainty is about the war, and not about the birth of a child, whether it will be a boy or a girl (smiles. - Ye.K.).
- Are you saying that compared to the expectation of the unknown, the reality was not so scary?
- It really is. I don't know how it works for everyone. You don't learn a lot of details in your correspondence with your comrades in arms. We all communicate in general phrases. There are only 4-5-0, plus, minus, f*ck, f*ck. Here's a typical screen for you and your readers. Maybe you're getting used to it, or maybe you're really imagining an unlimited catastrophe.
- Does the driver of an evacuation vehicle have his own Lord's Prayer, commandments that must not be broken?
- When you transport a wounded person to a hospital from a stabilization point, do not cause new casualties.
- Explain.
- We are working so close - in other words, there are always sounds of explosions. Sometimes there are wounded so you have to drive very fast, and through a settlement, and you have to avoid making a new 300th because my Silverado is not a Tinkerbell and its empty weight is 5 tons. So you need to transport the soldier alive, and not hit anyone on the road. And you can't hit a tank or a Bradley, because they don't have headlights at all.
- And when you're driving, do you hear what's going on in the cab? What does your medic say, what does the wounded man say? Or do you have no time for that and are concentrating on the road?
- I have a monitor and I can see what is happening in the cabin. And I can hear, there is a window. In general, there is communication.
- What are the main things a medic should do when transporting a wounded person? What is more important - medical manipulations or talking to the wounded?
- It depends on the state of the wounded. There is no universal recipe here. If a wounded person is seriously injured, the paramedic has to monitor his condition (oxygen, pulse, breathing), talk to him, and keep him awake. There are those who need an intravenous drip, those who need to be taken to intensive care, and those who need to be kept awake.
- Why should you keep him awake?
- Because he may not wake up.
- Do you often need to talk to them psychologically? You know, to distract them from bad thoughts?
- This is a backbone. Sometimes wounded people talk to you in such a way that they distract you from your thoughts. We have such dragons - I am amazed. Such characters, holy Mama Mia! You look at him... In civilian life, you probably wouldn't be interested in this person. You wouldn't want to meet him, drink a beer in a bar. And here, the guy reveals himself like that...
- Tell us some cases.
- We are transporting a guy who is in a normal state, stable, conscious, without painkillers. We're on our way to the hospital, and something starts exploding around us. So he says: "Hey, let's go a little faster because I'm going to run away from you to my position because I'm safer there!
- What is his position?
- He was a stormtrooper. That is, the most f*cked up position!
Another case. We are transporting man. There was a piece of shrapnel sticking out of his body side, the bullet was pulled from his leg, and he said: "I feel somehow crappy, it must be blood pressure." He reads the 'hundred' (such kind of bulletin). It’s 190, a little high!" (laughs - Ye.K.).
Another one says, with his open fracture of the leg, "Well, now I have even more inspiration to work...".
Often, when you transport the wounded, those who are conscious, they speak out. They're stressed, there is an adrenaline rush, and they tell you what just happened. One with a wounded leg somehow carried out two more of his comrades, got them to an evacuation vehicle... he said. And since now we often drive loaded vehicles, and some wounded person sits next to me, I usually listen to them, keep talking to them. And everyone has a different character, mentality all of them are from different regions, with different dialects, ranks...
- Do you feel like a taxi driver?
- No, I feel useful and involved in the only thing that is extremely important for everyone today, and the hardest part of it is done by these guys. That's my daily routine now. A life that no one ever dreamed of (smiles - Ye.K.), although most of the time people spend their whole lives organizing their daily routines to make them better. But in general, very few people nowadays live as they want or plan. And when you're at home drinking a beer and you see traffic lights, carefree faces, beautiful people who are colorfully dressed, the war seems like some kind of horrible phantasmagoria from social media that you will never find yourself in.
And when you come back from vacation, I get all sorts of jokes from here; those beauty gyms and beaches are like a mystery (smiles - Ye.K.). It seems as if a peaceful life is rapidly approaching us from the west of the country, and we haven't washed our faces, we're not ready for festivals and we want to fight. Sometimes people say that "everyone who wanted to is already at war." Although the word "wanted" is inaccurate here...
- Which one is more exact?
- It is impossible to want this. You can understand that it is impossible to avoid war during war. And you have to find your place in it before it finds you. This is not a war that someone just dreamed about and guys went to shoot out of boredom or testosterone ambition. It's like being attacked and beaten in a back alley just because they don't like you visually. And you're screaming: "Don't beat me!" - and they're like, what, have they suddenly stopped? Enduring being beaten, is it the way to avoid it?
- Your eldest son is still fighting in the artillery in Da Vinci. How is his mood compared to the beginning of the war?
- I haven't seen Yurii for a year and a half. His vacations did not coincide. And recently we were lucky that they were moving, and we managed to meet for a couple of hours. As I understood it, he is not thinking about how to discharge or demobilize, but about how to develop in the army. He didn't say so specifically, but I understood him from the conversation. In general, he's such a guy ... he's smart. He is aware of the reality of Ukraine and the world as a whole. In short, he is a military man, as it seemed to me. I, on the other hand, did not become a military man in a year. And he, in my opinion, is a real warrior. This does not negate the fact that he is f*cked up, after all, he has been at war for three years.
- Why do you think you didn't become a military man? Maybe it's not even for you to decide but for those around you, isn`t it?
- Well, of course, people around me decide for themselves. Our points of view don't necessarily coincide. Almost all people see paintings and hear music and know the Pythagorean Theorem. Everyone can compose a song, draw a picture, and determine the cosine because they have hands, so why not reproduce? But it is unlikely that everyone will make any contribution to cultural heritage or give an impetus to art or make a scientific discovery. Although you can draw - it's a kind of art therapy, isn't it?
It's the same with military affairs. You take part in the war, but you are not a military man in essence. In general, if we hadn't been attacked, I would never have been in the army. But now it seems to me that when there is a war to destroy us, there are no civilians. There are civilians and military. Civilians - it sounds strange somehow. You are attacked and you are a civilian - how is that?
- Continuing the family conversation, how did you feel when sordid anonymous telegram channels started harassing your older brother Yurii Nikolov for his anti-corruption investigations and free thinking?
- I know the older one, and that's why I laughed in the context of the effectiveness of the "sabotage". Of course, I was worried, because you can expect anything, and there is no limit to these attacks.
Nikolov has a clear head and perception of the world. I was more worried about my mom. Because she lives with him and had to go through this. Moreover, she was the only one at home at the time. She also has a healthy perception of the world and her head, but her age is such that she needs help, not additional stress on her nerves. Of course, it is stressful that while you are here, you cannot help your loved ones, your daughter in difficult situations; that your younger son is waiting for you at the holidays in kindergarten and is offended that you did not come, while other dads came. This is the most difficult thing for me at war.
- What do you think the country should expect when, after the war or during the ceasefire, the military returns home en masse and corruption is rampant? From conversations, from the feelings of comrades in arms, what will be the reaction of these people?
- I can't predict something like that because I'm not inclined to draw too big conclusions. I do not believe that all my comrades in arms have the same or very similar reactions to everything. I don't know what will happen on a mass scale. Much will depend on how the guys will be greeted at the rear. If they are offered jobs and gratitude, it's one reaction, and if they turn up their noses at them and say, "I didn't send you there," it's another. Like, you were holding the economic front in the rear while the guys were "resting" in Rio de Posadki? So why are there no jobs? What have you won on the economic front? As for donations, I'll give you a spoiler: the military donate just as much because they also support the families of their fallen comrades.
So I think there will be no general trend, everyone will be greeted by home in different ways. Some people may not even have a home anymore. Someone's son died, someone's father died, someone's daughter died, someone's mother died... There will be no easy solutions because different people have to pay different prices for living in a common home.
Now everyone is aggressive because of fatigue; sometimes I see emotional "stories" from the military. But I'm not sure that this is their true natural position. I see fatigue in this because often this soldier has very kind eyes, and I can't imagine him beating the f*cking hell out of someone in civilian life just because he was at war. But it will not be without failures. The best thing you can do for the guys is to integrate them into civilian life, not to "fight" with them. They are definitely better at it.
- And what do you feel when you see news like "two people were found dead in the Tisza River because they forced it to cross the border to evade mobilization"?
- Condolence. No matter how much people dance in the stories, no matter what cocktails they show, I don't see that they are happy. I see that it is really hard for people. They are better off only because they have a bathroom. But they are still living in a war. They also cannot make real long-term plans. Sometimes a missile hits nearby... not so often, but one hit can be enough. The circumstances are overwhelming and the uncertainty of tomorrow is stressful. And then to be under the threat of mobilization all the time... it's a terrible thing!
I can't condemn them or anything like that. Everyone is afraid. It's normal. It's not normal to live in it. Because fear dehumanizes a person. And even kills. Like people whose fear makes them cross the Tisza... Do you understand what I mean?
- Yes. Your approach to the phenomenon is philosophical and psychological.
- So I am a philosophical and psychological soldier. People often call me a romantic (smiles - E.K.).
- A romantic?
- Yes, probably because there are a lot of flowers, not blood, on my social media).
- Doesn't this romanticize the war?
- For me, no. Or I don't really understand the meaning of this word.
I just look at everything with my own eyes, and there are actually a lot of flowers, not just blood. And I have no desire to educate anyone through social media or to call for something with "shocking" images. I'm living for the first time and I don't know what's right in my heart. I don't consider myself a person who has grounds to influence people's decisions; friends and private "circle" are the best places to talk. Everyone is an adult and is responsible for themselves, their activities or inactivity. For some results or some consequences of their decisions. I don't look at the world globally, across continents or political borders. I see flowers (laughs. - E.K.).
- So you are in an information vacuum from the world news, aren`t you?
Of course not. Like everyone else, I read the news and have an opinion. But I don't think it's so valuable that it needs to be shared with everyone. The news, as I see it, doesn't show what's really happening. So you need to devote a lot of time to figuring out what's really going on. You can create all sorts of constructs based on the headlines, believe in them, and start making everyone think that way. Then, most likely, you need to choose state-building, political activity, or journalism as a profession. Mine is different. I don't live in a media space, and in real life, I know far fewer people than there are on social media or in statistics somewhere. I don't really care about the mood in Chukotka or Australia. Just like they don't care about mine. Very few people in the world know about my very existence. My real life does not consist of Irish, Japanese, and other nationalities. It consists of my environment, which includes a specific Japanese and a specific Irish woman, not a general nation.
- You continue to paint the war. Why do you do it?
- This is the specific nature of my work now that I wait more than I act. And I have to do something to fill this waiting time. This is the only reason why I paint. It's convenient, you need a notebook and pencils. And there is not much choice of subjects here, so I paint the war. What I see, I "sing".
- Then let's do it the following way. I'll choose a picture, and you tell me about the story of its creation. Do you agree?
- Of course.
- Okay. Tell me, what is this drawing about?
-When we were getting ready to go on vacation, about a day before, we received a message from intelligence with the coordinates of the planned targets for that night. We looked at the map and the target was 200 meters away. Knowing that these 200 meters are often a permissible error for Katsap missiles, we decided to prepare as much as possible and, like "experienced" soldiers, sealed the windows as much as possible. Once done, Vitia went to cut Tolik's hair.
- And what happened next?
- That night it was okay, but when we came back from vacation, there were no more windows in the building. Apparently, the scotch tape is crummy (smiles. - Ye.K.).
- Great story! Let's move on. How about this picture?
This drawing signed by Valerii Zaluzhnyi was sold at a charity auction
- And this is Roma at Avdiivka Coke Plant. He came out of the shelter to smoke into the sunshine and a shell fell next to him. But it did not explode. "Smoking will definitely kill me one day," he muttered, jumping back.
- Thank God, he was lucky. And what about this picture?
- The fire was extinguished by the Bradley guys with the wounded crew. They took the fire extinguisher from the evacuation vehicle. And they heroically prevented the fucking disaster, because they didn't let the ammunition load to catch fire. And then they got a beating from the technician at the base for using the fire extinguisher from the evacuation vehicle. Well, and a warm handshake for using a fire extinguisher (laughs. - Ye.K.).
- But this work looks like a sketch from a hospital. Who is it about?
- The wounded man says: "You can't guess, see? People were living in Chernihiv and were killed by a missile. And the guys, who have been at the front for 3 years, were hit by a GAB a metre from their dugout - and all of them are alive, only one with a shard...".
- You really can't guess. And this sketch, is it not from the church, is it ?
- You've guessed wrong. We have a comrade with the call sign Black. And there is the Liana position. He is told:
"Black, tomorrow you will be on Liana."
And he was like:
"F#ck. Is it because I'm black?"
- You never know when things will be funny at the front. Listen, your drawings of animals - they are very beautiful. For example, this one with the dog. His eyes are something!
- In this area I wasn't too creative with cat and dog callsigns. If it's a cat, it's Avdii, if it's a dog, it's Avdos.
- The cat is very impressive. So his name is Avdos?
- They call him Koks because the guys "evacuated" him from the Avdiivka Coke Plant.
- And is it this picture, that makes your heart bleed?
- And this is me on vacation getting my youngest son to bed, and he speaks so calmly:
- Dad, can you take me to the corridor in case of an air raid alert?
I was struck by the mundanity of the kid's tone. I said:
- Good night, of course.
And then in the morning, there was an air raid alert. And there was a hit. It was far away but loud. And I just covered him with my jacket. I couldn't protect him with anything else.
I don't know how you ride it out...
- Incredible pictures. And now tell me, for what do you, paramedics, who save the lives of your comrades, need money most of all? Last time, I remember you answering like this: "To repair our vehicles, because they keep smashing. Shrapnel cuts our car. We have already replaced the windshield. Other crews were even less lucky. Their radiators were damaged. That's why the backbone is a vehicle repair facility."
That's what you said last time. Has the situation changed or is it the same?
- It has changed in the sense that it doesn't hit you with shrapnel, but it's the engines that break down. Because the driving is very aggressive and the roads are very "not very good". Spare parts just smashed. But, again, the situation may change before this interview is published; so there may be debris. Everything is changing very quickly.
Real money gives you the speed of solving a problem. The sooner you buy a spare part, the sooner the evacuation vehicle is operational; the sooner it goes on a mission.
-The more likely you were to save the wounded man.
- Well, yes. And we constantly need clothes for the wounded at the stabilization point itself. Because we cut off the wounded's clothes, and it is not good to transport them naked. They need to be dressed in something...
Attention: Those who want to help Oleksandr Nikolov's unit can donate here:
Yevhen Kuzmenko, Censor.NET
Photos and drawings from the archive of Oleksandr Nikolov
