Call sign Typhoon: Captured Russian had papers - where our brigades were. 38th Brigade hadn’t even arrived in Shakhtarske yet, and it had already been written down by him that they would be there in 3 weeks

Author: Olha Moskaliuk

Oleksandr, call sign Typhoon, is a tattoo artist from Odesa. In the summer of 2022, he put down his tattoo machine, took up arms and went to war. He served in the 37th Separate Marine Brigade.

In August last year, while performing a mission, he was wounded when he stepped on a mine that tore off part of his left leg and severely injured his right. He underwent 16 surgeries. Has a prosthesis. He is currently discharged from the army, but closely follows what is happening at the front. We talked to Oleksandr about the situation in Donbas and the Kursk operation. But first, we remembered how he found himself in the war.

- How did you find out about the full-scale attack?

- My wife called and said that a full-scale war had started. I didn't really react, because I was expecting something like this - it had been going on since 2014. My brother served in the ATO, so he told me what was happening and what the situation might be like in the future. Of course, it was on a different scale then, but it was also scary, there were heavy battles, and we suffered losses. But now it is much worse.

- Did you think before the invasion that you would have to fight too?

- Yes, we did. At the beginning of the full-scale war, I was already 26 years old, so I understood everything.

- Were you prepared?

- I was ready anyway. I did my conscript service back in 2017. First in Poltava, and then in the Kharkiv region at one of the largest weapons depots in Balakliia.

- I remember a large-scale fire there in 2017. Was that when you served there?

- Yes, yes. Our warehouses were burning.

- But conscript service and war are different things...

- We had already seen what war was. One day, our senior officer came up and said: "Typhoon, we need to go to the positions". We didn't understand at first. We were conscripts. What positions? It turned out that three echelons were loaded with ammunition, so six people were needed for escort. However, I did not think we would go to the Luhansk region. I stayed there for three weeks. 

- Were you scared?

- Of course! (smiles. - O.M.). It was the first time.

- Let's go back to February 24, 2022. What was the first thing you thought about then?

- I thought about my wife and child, who needed to get a passport for them to leave. Hits started, and I was worried about them. We got permission to leave, but my wife did not want to go. So we stayed here.

- What was happening in the city?

- Barricades were being built, checkpoints were being set up. All people were checked. In three or four months, the situation more or less leveled off.

- What did you do during that time?

- I was working. We were closed only for the first three days, and then we opened.

- Did you have any clients?

- Yes. Those who were booked a month or two in advance came. Only three canceled.

- What did they tattoo? Patriotic drawings?

- They tattooed very different ones, even some strange ones. They started actively making patriotic ones about a month after I went to war. They chose a trident, a flag, and drawings in the style of embroidery before full-scale invasion. Ukrainian symbols were mostly made by girls.

- Were there any military men among your clients?

- Yes, there were. Mostly contract soldiers. When the full-scale war began, I managed to make only two military men and three guys who stood at checkpoints.

How did you find yourself in the war?

- One day I was on my way to work. I got out of the bus, paid, looked at the door, and there were representatives of the TCR standing there. They asked for my documents. I showed them. One of them said: "You are 25 years old. Why don't you serve?" I answered that there was no call-up. I was waiting for the time to come. I passed the medical examination. They registered me. They called me only a month and a half later. They asked me if I wanted to serve anywhere in particular. I clarified what were the options. They named them. Among them was the 35th Separate Marine Brigade, which I joined.

- Why did you choose the marines?

- This brigade was here locally, not in other regions. That's how I was recruited. The military training lasted three months. Although, for example, my friend (he has already died), who had never even held a rifle in his hands, was already on the battlefield three weeks after he was recruited.

- After training, where were you sent?

- To Kramatorsk. I was assigned to a sniper company. We were in training for two more months. I approached the commander and asked what we were going to do. Why did they take us away from our loved ones to spend so much time just training? I was a good shot when I was in regular service. What new things could they teach me? In a couple of months, I was transferred to the reconnaissance company of the 37th Separate Marine Brigade.

- Did you want to be a reconnaissance man?

- Yes, I did. It is more interesting here (smiles - O.M.). You always have to get into the "nostrils" of the enemy

- Where did you go?

- First, we came to Chornomorsk. Then we went to Novopidhorodne, where we were manning up because those who had gone abroad to study were returning. Then we spent two weeks in Novovodiane. Then we were sent to the area of Novodonetsk, where we visited the positions for the first time. The enemy was about a kilometer and a half away from us. We had to get used to the shelling, hits and so on. Our first stationing was three weeks later to Novodonetsk, which was fully occupied. At nine in the morning, we went on a reconnaissance. There were 12 of us. The passage was through a ravine in the lowlands. It was 500 meters long. We went down into it and that was it - we were not allowed to leave or move on. We were spotted by a drone. Snipers started shooting. But due to the tall grass, they could not see us. Then they shot at us with everything they had. We were there under constant fire until 11.30 p.m. When we came out, the guys on the positions above, where we went down to the ravine, said: "You were bombed so hard! You were really born on third base!"

- Were you injured?

- I was a little shell-shocked because there were four tank strikes nearby. We were thrown back by a wave, but everyone is alive and well. We had some burn wounds. There is a lot of shrapnel in the armor.

- And how did you feel morally? The first mission and this situation...

- At one point, I wanted to turn off the airplane mode on my phone and say goodbye to my wife. Because everything was flying and exploding around me. There were a lot of "petals", mines, tripwires. How did we not step on anything? God saved us.

- What happened next?

- We got out. We found a damaged "ambulance" in the plantation (this is Ford with a box like this on the back) of another battalion. We got inside, and there were the keys! We started it and it works! We all loaded into it (smiles - O.M.). We left at night without lights. After that, we rested for three days. Then we were brought assault armored vehicles, and we went to the Zaporizhzhia direction. There we had our first assault. Although intelligence should not be involved in this, there were no people.

- What were your impressions of the first assault?

- We were a little worried the day before. You realize that you're going into the center of hell, where you're going to start a close combat. We just sat down, had a smoke, changed the subject to talk about something better - that we would be alive and well, that we would come home and everything would be fine (smiles. - O.M.). And we got underway. At that time, we had one "300th", some tangential wounds, when, for example, the arm was hit. But, in general, everything was fine. It is naive to storm a position and assume that your personnel will be 100 percent intact because it is impossible. For such a development of events, you need all the enemies to be asleep, and you come in with knives and cut them all off - this is the only way to be sure that you will not have any losses.

I'll tell you another interesting moment from those days. When we entered Urozhaine in the Donetsk region, we captured three Russians. Among them was a major or captain who had papers. They indicate the location of our brigades. To make you understand, the 38th Brigade had not even arrived in Shakhtarske yet, and it was written down by him that they would be there in three weeks. So all the information was leaked.

- Did you interrogate them?

- They don't say much, because they understand what will happen to them if they provide information. It doesn't matter when they return home, they will be punished. No matter who we captured, everyone was afraid. They said: "Do what you want with us. We can dig, shoot, clean, but don't send us back."

- What kind of opponents are they?

- It all depends on age, motivation and training...

- Indeed, it is difficult to compare trained "Wagnerians" and mobilized twenty-year-olds...

- You have risen it too high (smiles. - O.M.). Eighteen-year-olds! We captured one of them. I asked him: "Didn't you have anything else to do?" He said he had to either stay in prison or go to war. I asked him why he was there. He replied that he had been in jailbait for "sack" - for weed. He went to buy some for himself, was caught, and went to prison for five years. Then they were offered a choice: either to stay in jail or to go to war. 

- Let him stay.

- I told him the same thing!

- Were there any prisoners who repented?

- Almost all of them! They asked not to be touched or beaten. But when you know how many of your comrades in arms died because of them, you don't want to hear these repentances. You don't even want to hear them. Maybe it was him who shot your friend. What do you do? It's hard to hold back at such moments.

- What do you think of the Russians?

- There are those who went voluntarily. Some were forced or dragged. But there are motivated brigades that are ready to go to the end, even if it means reaching Lviv.

- You mentioned Urozhaine. I know that it was there that you were wounded. When and how did it happen?

- It happened on August 21 last year. Three days before, my mother called me and told me that my grandmother had died. I told my company commander that I had to go home immediately because the funeral was tomorrow. He asks me when I want to leave. I answer that I want to go right now. He let me go. I went with my wife's brother. We returned immediately after the funeral. In the evening, the company asked: "Are you ready to go out?". We were from the road, but, in principle, yes. We got ready, got into the armored vehicle and took the road. We spent the night, came out in the morning, and our guys were waiting for us to come. We had made a long way and started marking mines, removing tripwires, of which there were about 13 pieces. We realized that we were about 20-25 meters away from the Russians because we had already heard their voices. And I had this habit of leaving marks behind me so that I could see how to turn back - I dragged my feet so that I could see the stripes on the grass. At some point, my comrade-in-arms and I sat down for a smoke break. Our platoon leader asked: "Why did you sit down?". I: "To have a smoke break. Sit down. Do not rush". We spoke quietly because we realized that it was going to be very funny. We had a smoke break. One of my comrades-in-arm, Misha Skipper, got up and walked forward. I wanted to slow him down and get ahead of him, but he said we'd switch later. And then he stepped on a mine. It exploded upwards. His leg was torn off above the knee. As soon as there was an explosion, a firefight started. I quickly dragged Misha under a tree, bandaged his leg, and took his assault rifle. When I had shot back, I started to drag him slowly. Another colleague ran up to help me. I said: "Go shoot!". I drag Misha along the traces I had left earlier, while I walked on the side. I moved about 30 meters and stepped on a mine... Both my legs were shattered, and the Skipper was hit in the head by the shrapnel... I fell down. At first, I did not realize what had happened. I turned to Misha and saw that he had blood all over his head. I look at my leg - there is no shoe. Yeah, I got it. Then the guys tightened the tourniquet right through the phone, although in such circumstances you have to take everything out of your pockets. However, at such moments you do not think much. Although, perhaps, it was good that it happened - the blood was flowing to my leg at least a little. When the fire stopped and everything calmed down, they started dragging us to the nearest trenches. But then the tank started firing. The first two hits were right next to us. Once it covered us, then again. About an hour and a half later, they said that a "roshelka" (armored car - O.M.) was coming for us. I thought: I was going to fly up to the ceiling in it! It's like this at every pit. It's there. We were being taken there as soon as possible. As soon as we drove through turning, there was hit right to where the car was parked when we were taken away. They took me to Shakhtarske, where our doctors were. I was conscious. I was joking around. I tried to stay positive. Although I was thinking about Misha all the time. They tried to put me to bed, but I refused, because I wanted to see what was wrong with him. The doctors were fighting for his life. When they connected the equipment, I heard this sound - "piiiiiii"... His heart stopped. They tried to resuscitate him, but failed. I saw that they covered Misha... Then I lose consciousness, and came to  Dnipro, where I was transported. 

- Were you operated on there?

- All 16 operations were already in Kyiv. I spent only a day in Dnipro. Just so you understand, my wife came there. I was sent by evacuation train to the capital. She and her brother went to the bus station. They got on a bus, left, and an hour and a half later they arrived at the bus station. This is the story.

That's when they started to perform my first surgeries. On my left leg, where a part of it was torn off, there were few surgeries. The right leg was operated on more because here I could see the bone and cracks in it. They put a removable plaster cast on it because it was impossible to cast it under such conditions. So the doctors were taking out the fragments and cleaning the dirt. They were waiting for the granulation to take place and for the skin to be transplanted, or to close the open large wounds that were unrealistic to сlose in and sew. When the skin gradually grew back, I was transferred to Odesa.

- Did you get a prosthesis on your left leg?

- Yes. I decide that my knee is in place - minus one problem. I am a little happier now. Because if it was not there, it would be even more difficult.

- How do you keep moving?

- I cannot run. Walking is difficult. After two hours of walking, some pains begin.

- Did you have phantom pains?

- They were. Back in Kyiv, I was appointed for laser irradiation, and the phantom pains increased significantly at first. So much so that I couldn't even sleep. And after the fourth procedure, they began to subside. Then they disappeared. But then a year passed and I started having them again - either my fingers "hurt" or some other sensations. I went to Kyiv for gamma therapy again. The doctor said that it happens. Maybe I'll have to come again. But it is not a fact. 

- Have you been discharged from the army?

- Yes, I have been discharged.

- I am sure that you are still following what is happening and communicating with your comrades in arms. How do you perceive the current events?

- Oh, what can I say... It is very painful for Donbas. So many of my comrades in arms were killed there, so many positions we defended... We captured Urozhaine and the villages behind it. The enemy was about a hundred kilometers away from Pokrovsk. And today (we are talking about August 30 - O.M.). it is already eight. It's hard to see it all. But five guys with whom I did my conscript service are now on the territory of Russia. One of them wrote to me: "What are you doing there? You lost your leg in your sea battle, so come back to us!". I answered: "To lose the other one too?" (smiling. - O.M.). Then he calls me on the video link. He shows me a house in one of the settlements of the Kursk region and says: "There will be an ATB here!" (laughs. - O.M.). I am happy about this because our guys took a lot of new equipment. Plus, the Kursk power plant is located there. I was watching Russian channels and they were saying that Putin was ready to withdraw troops from Donbas, Kherson and Kharkiv regions if only our troops would leave the Kursk region. But this is all a lie! He would never do that. It is clear that he is afraid and worried about these events because there is a nuclear warhead there. However, this still does not change his plans for Ukraine. In general, you know, news like this from the Kursk region is very encouraging.

P.S.: Dear friends, now Oleksandr needs further treatment and rehabilitation. If you can help, here are the details:

https://send.monobank.ua/jar/2jGYZTY3qQ

Olha Moskaliuk, Censor.NET

Photos are provided by Typhoon