Serhii Prutskykh: "Russians who withdrew from their territories immediately cut off electricity, water, and all communications, leaving their people without anything"
"It needs to drive at one direction or the other because he’s literate - Putin, God forgive me, talking on TV. When you listen to him, oh! But in reality, he has abandoned his people," says a resident of the Kursk region to the Ukrainian military who brought her water.
This video appeared on the Internet in mid-August, when it was officially announced that Ukrainian troops had successfully attacked Russians on their territory. The operation began suddenly and unexpectedly. The Nakhtihal unit of the unmanned aerial systems, in which officer Serhii Prutskykh, call sign Kum (Сompadre - ed. note), serves, also took part. It was he who recorded the conversation with the Russian woman and posted it on social media. We mentioned this episode in our interview with Serhii. We talked about the beginning of the offensive and the war in general.
- How did you find out that you were going to attack the Kursk region?
- We were first sent to the Sumy region. We had no specifics. We started reconnaissance with drones. But still, until the last moment, we did not know that the operation would take place in the Kursk region. We thought something would happen near the border.
- How did you feel when you realised you were entering Russian territory?
- This is a logical action - we need to move part of the frontline to them. In particular, so that their citizens, who have always responded to missile strikes with applause, as was the case with Okhmatdyt, can feel a little bit what war is like. Everything is cyclical. Plus, it helped us demoralise the enemy.
You ask what I felt? Rather, joy, because it is easier to fight on foreign soil. Even when they drop GABs on us, they are hitting their own territory.
- They don't seem to take this into account.
- Yes, they don't care! The Russian command has nothing human about it at all.
- We have seen on the news that Russia has abandoned conscripts to defend the Kursk region...
- As far as I know, there were conscripts on the first line along with Ahmat, who quickly began to flee. Besides, it was calm, and no one expected anything to happen. Everyone realized that the situation in Donbas was very difficult. Hardly anyone could have imagined that Mr. Syrskyi and his command would plan such a technical and professional operation. The fact that the media received information late and that the military provided it in portions indicates a high level of preparation. This was noted by our Western partners, including representatives of intelligence and military formations.
- I remember a video by the Ministry of Defence on the eve of the counter-offensive a little over a year ago: "Plans love silence".
- Exactly! I think this behaviour has played a key role now. Because a lot of information is leaking to the press. Often, our analysts and non-analysts who are hypping the war are leaked a lot of material that they voice, which is used by the enemy.
- Now there is enough official information. You can also see videos, in particular with Russians captured in the Kursk region. Your colleagues say that they surrender in packs. Did you have a chance to talk to them?
- In the Kursk region, no. The specifics of our work here are such that we are always "on the redirection of force". In this operation, we play the role of supporting the Defense Forces when they enter the active phase of the confrontation.
Of course, there were chances to communicate when we were advancing through the villages where we were entrenched. We found Russian soldiers who were hiding in basements and were not detected in the first days. But other units were dealing with them.
You said that they seem to surrender in packs. Indeed, this is exactly what happens. Our special forces captured 102 people at once. This is the most massive capture we've ever managed to carry out in one go. By the way, they say that there are FSB agents among the prisoners in the Kursk region.
- It was such a good "catch".
- First, they will tell us a lot of interesting things. Secondly, it is a big bargaining chip that will allow us to get our guys out of Russian captivity.
- You didn't talk to the prisoners, you talked to the locals instead. A video of your conversation with a resident of the Kursk region, who, by the way, speaks Ukrainian, was published. Could you tell us what was left out of the video?
- Most of the people there speak that way. Even those who came up to us started speaking Russian, we answered in Ukrainian, and they switched too. It shocked us at first. But then we started digging into history and realized that a hundred years ago in the Kursk region, it was recorded that about 70 percent of the population spoke exclusively Ukrainian.
You see, we always need to work with civilians, both here and there. People can tell us something that will be useful in our work in the future. Moreover, we cannot leave a person without water, food or medicine. For this woman in the video, we brought medicine for blood pressure. We visited her more than once. She was communicating normally. She was not afraid to speak on camera. I promised her that her face in the video would be blurred so that there would be no problems later. She told me that she was sick of the dictatorship. I would like to note that people there suffer not only from their government but also from the army. The Russians who withdrew from their territories immediately cut off electricity, water, and all communications, leaving their people with nothing and not even offering evacuation in return.
- Why are they doing this?
- To do a bad turn to us. It's still harder without communications. But there are modern technologies - generators, EcoFlow.
- But this is how they harm their own population, first of all.
- Exactly!
- How do the locals behave in general? Is there any aggression towards you?
- A certain number of people look at us with fear, because they have been brainwashed by propaganda and believe that we are non-humans and Nazis who have come to kill everyone. But I didn't notice any aggression.
Some people are already smiling, responding to "Glory to Ukraine!" with "Glory to the heroes! " (smiles. - O.M.). Of course, we realize that anyone on this territory is potentially our enemy. They can behave inappropriately, at least, leak information about our location. That is why we are taking all security measures. But, again, communication is at a fairly reasonable level. In the Ukrainian language.
- Are you also conducting Ukrainization?
- Gentle Ukrainization (smiles - O.M.). The guys and I are talking to each other: now there simply cannot be any arguments that someone in Kyiv should speak Russian. Especially when it comes to officials and the like.
- We see that they do not and have not resisted.
- Yes, civilians don't resist at all. I remember 2022, when people in the Kherson region stopped tanks, burned them with Molotov cocktails, and defended Kharkiv and other cities. Here, there is no resistance from people.
- So they don't care what country they live in?
- That's what this woman said: "I don't care who it is. It would be better if it drove at one direction and it was over." She doesn't care what flag her land will be under.
- I don't think they could have imagined that the war would move to their territory. Could they?
- Of course! This is "great Russia: we will kill everyone and reach... somewhere" (smiles. - O.M.).
- To Berlin?
- To Berlin, to the White House, and wherever you want...
- You said that we have enough people who hype the war and influence public opinion. This includes government officials. For example, the other day, People's Deputy Artem Dmytruk wrote that the Ukrainian military was abusing the local population. Let me quote: "Recently, footage has begun to be released showing the actions of our soldiers in the Kursk region. Someone is destroying monuments, someone is abusing local residents, old people, pretending to be Germans, someone is organizing riots in shops." However, he did not attach a video to confirm his words. What would you say to him?
- Personally to him or in general?
- Let's start with him. Then in general.
- A big campaign was launched against him by people who tolerated his antics and statements for some time, but everything came to an end. In any situation, there is a boomerang that is now coming back to him. So I would tell him that he needs to prepare and teach how to properly "enter the house," greet people, etc., and not to speculate about what he has not seen and does not know.
He also said something about the looting of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. I specifically went to the house where the Russian border guard lived. Our guys searched the place to look for documents. They found a tablet and a phone. It turned out that they belonged to a child. They put them back. After that, I came and shot a video that showed everything in place, as it was before. Both the plasma and the washing machine are there, just as the owners left them.
In general, I'll tell you this: Russian propaganda has already become very active. They began to spread narratives that we (the military) were responsible for a nuclear war, that instead of retaking our territories, they were entering another country, and so on. It was predictable. I think that now Putin's rhetoric will move in this direction. He will say something like: "I warned you that Ukraine wanted to attack us. And now it has done it. My words turned out to be true." Dmytruk is working very professionally for the Muscovites. But, as I said, everything has its end. His "reward" is not far off.
- Indeed, there is a discussion that we have entered the territory of Russia, sending part of our forces here when the enemy is advancing in Donbas. Objectively, the situation there is really difficult. Especially in the Pokrovsk direction. I also see indignationon social media that our soldiers are helping local residents of the Kursk region with food and water. They say, how can this be? The Russian military tortured, raped and killed our people, including children, and we are feeding their population. You said that you cannot leave people without water and food...
- How will we be better if we do what they do? We call them a global evil and fight to stop it. If we take the same unacceptable steps - the ones you have listed - we will be no better than those Russian "Ivans".
- I understand that the point is not that you should be the same. They are outraged that you are helping them when they are not starving. There are videos where they themselves loot their own stores and have food.
- These are their communities, so let them take what they want (smiles. - O.M.). But, for example, the woman in the video does not leave her house at all, she stays inside all the time so as not to expose herself to any danger. I think that bringing water, a loaf of bread, and some canned food is easy and normal.
- And what about their army? Are they pulling up troops there?
- Yes. It's good that they are being pulled up and redeployed from other areas. My comrades from Lymanske told me that for the first week after the start of the Kursk operation (I don't know how it is now, because they were no longer in touch), they did not receive a single GAB. That's why our guys can breathe a little bit, reinforce themselves.
You mentioned the situation in the Pokrovsk direction. Indeed, it is difficult there today. We have to retreat a bit. We are advancing here and retreating there. This is how it goes. This is war. The main thing is to understand that it is not forever. Those territories are temporarily occupied.
- Another important point is that there are always losses in war, regardless of whether it is an offensive or a retreat. The Kursk operation, although successful, also has such consequences. So we must remember what price we pay...
- Of course! In the attack phase, you always need more resources. It is easier to defend. You know, after the Kherson counteroffensive, in which my guys and I participated as part of the Special Operations Forces, we were told: "It was a cakewalk!". In fact, it was not. Just as it was not a cakewalk then, it is not a cakewalk now.
- Do you think the Kursk operation will change the course of the war? Or has it already done so?
- This is a historic moment. In addition, it is already changing not only the course of the war. You can see that 'Tsar' Putin's chair is shaking a little. He used to say that they were standing firmly on their land and going to defend another nation - that is, ours. And today he is being accused by oligarchs and large corporations like Gazprom: "So what should we do now? Maybe you're not telling us something (smiles - O.M.). Or maybe the 'tsar' is not that strong". They say that everything in the Kremlin is unstable.
- I think you've described the Kursk operation quite accurately- it's a slap in the face to Putin.
- That's right! Spitting in the face and slapping with wet underwear (smiles - O.M.).
- According to his public speeches, there is no mood.
- He has completely faded away! There have been no serious statements for two weeks. They show that they are meeting there, talking, as if they are deciding something, but his generals report completely false things. First, in the morning, they said that 15 soldiers drove into their territory in two or three cars and "everything was destroyed." In the evening, it got to the point where there were 300 of them! And now I see that there is panic there! Skabeyeva is already turning gray! (smiles. - O.M.). That is, everything fell apart there because of our cool operation.
- By the way, do the locals in the Kursk region say anything about Putin?
- They say about him, the government in general, and Russian journalists that they lie, deceive, and come but do nothing. Just so you understand, there are no wells in the villages! There is one somewhere at the end and that's it.
- We have one in every yard.
- Yes! That's why we brought the water. We asked if there was a well in the yard. It turns out that there is one somewhere far away.
- I want to talk about your personal history in this war. Before the full-scale invasion, you worked as a bartender...
- Yes, I had ten years of experience.
- I read that on February 23, you agreed to launch a new project. So you didn't believe in a possible full-scale offensive, which was so much talked about at the time?
- I didn't believe it to the end. I read everything, analyzed everything, subconsciously prepared myself that this could happen, but I really didn't want to believe it. On February 23, the owners of the Ternopil-based Old Tom Bar visited us, and we talked about me coming to give a performance and about our further cooperation on another project. 2021 was a very successful year for me at work, so I was in a kind of euphoria. At night, I came home cheerful. At about four in the morning, I went to bed. And about an hour later I got a call from my mom: "Son, where are you? It's war!" I thought: what has my mom read again? And then the siren goes off and the shelling starts. I checked the news on Telegram and it was indeed a full-scale war. I had no idea what to do. Because back in 2015, I promised myself and my compadre that if the conflict in Donbas continued to escalate, we would not hesitate to take up arms and go to war. So we had seven more years to prepare ourselves mentally. Were we ready? Of course? we weren't. It is impossible to be ready for war, no matter what you do. But we kept our word, and on the morning of February 25, I was already moving towards Zhytomyr with the guys we still work with.
- Did you prepare physically?
- I have always been familiar with sports. I used to do some shooting. But no, I didn't train very hard.
-So what was it like for you at first?
- When we arrived at the point where we were given weapons, so as not to look like a complete fool, I approached one of our guys and asked: "Show me, please, how this rifle is reloaded, put into different positions, and generally what to do with it" (smiles. - O.M.). It is clear that he had some idea, because, as he said, he had fired it once, but it was quite a long time ago. They gave me a quick tour. Then at four in the morning, we went to bed, and two hours later we were told that we were going on a mission. I didn't even get a uniform back then. The first few days I ran around in jeans, which I had been wearing at the bar. So here I am with a 'kalash'. Four of us get into the car (all in civilian clothes, because we had to find the subversive group). An RPG (anti-tank rocket grenade launcher) was thrown in and we were asked: "Has anyone fired this before?" No, no one has. "Okay, it's 20 minutes to your location. The Internet is working. YouTube has everything. Good luck!" That was how my first assignments began (smiles. - O.M.).
- Were you scared?
- I didn't have time to get scared because I had to learn everything quickly. I was lucky to be in a group with professional people who have been experiencing this war since 2014. I asked everything and listened to what they had to say. So I learned quite quickly. That is why, thanks to Kholod, Schultz, Horvat, and my comrades who shared their experience with me, I am talking to you today.
- The military often tell me that the most important thing in war is to be able to dig well and learn quickly .
- The bar probably helped me here. Because in order to understand a guest, provide them with a good mood and good drinks, you need to listen carefully to what they say. This is probably the reason why I am able to listen to people and memorize important things, which also helped me study.
- You fought in the Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and now Kursk regions. If you can compare, where was it hardest for you personally?
- Each of them had different specifics of work. In Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, we worked as part of the SOF, while in Donetsk we were already dealing with unmanned systems. So it's different everywhere. But in general, the hardest thing about war is losing friends. At one moment you sleep next to each other in some dugout, and the next day you find out that this person is gone. This is the hardest thing...
- You said you started flying UAVs in the Donetsk direction. Why did you decide to fly?
- We came to the SOF from the nationalist movement as a large group of people. Then we went in different directions - some stayed here, others left. This group that left was given carte blanche at some point to open a unit of unmanned systems. We can say that we were among the first to use Mavic drops on the battlefield. When we went abroad for training, we showed these videos at NATO bases. They were surprised: "Was it possible to do that? Just flying up with a grenade and burning a tank like that?" (smiles. - O.M.). They have a hundred people sitting in special institutions developing weapons, and here some guys figured out how to attach explosives that kill to a reconnaissance drone.
The guys who created this unit invited us to join them. We began to demonstrate the effectiveness of different types of "UAVs". It all started going in this direction and is still working. The "UAVs" are changing - some are reconnaissance, others are bombing. Warfare is changing thanks to the latest technology.
- In December 2022, in an interview, you said that you were satisfied with the results of the Ukrainian army in the tenth month of the full-scale war. What is your mood now?
- It hasn't changed, but it has risen because of the Kursk operation. As I see it, not only for me but for our entire military brotherhood. The guys in the Kursk region are ready to tear the enemy to pieces. Again, they know that the enemy is redeploying here from other areas where our comrades can breathe a little. The mood in the army now is very similar to 2022 - there is such unity.
- Until recently, the mood was a bit depressed.
- A little bit. It was more depressed among the civilian population.
- I noticed that some of the military had such a mood because of the failed mobilization.
- This happened with the mobilization because there were certain public precedents. Remember how guys who drugged girls with alcohol and drugs were issued draft notices. In other words, the army began to be perceived as a punishment, not as a privilege to defend oneself and one's country. It seems to me that it was at that moment that the possibility of proper mobilization began to fall. But now it is somehow leveling off. Recruiting centers are opening. We have opened ours in three cities - Dnipro, Kyiv and Lviv. People are interested, come, get full information, understand what they are doing and what they will get. We didn't understand anything in 2022. Everything is completely different now. I think the situation with mobilization will also improve and will move into recruiting.
- From our conversation, I got the impression that you are one of those who do not hope for a quick victory in this war.
- This is a global issue that is not worth thinking about today. For sure, the victory will not be quick. We can see that in some parts of the frontline, the war is becoming a positional war. But I am for victory! Only for victory!
Olha Moskaliuk, Censor.NET
Photo and video are provided by Serhii Prutskikh
