Ballet dancer who mastered grenade launcher: in memory of Oleksandr Shapoval
Two years ago, on September 12, 2022, Oleksandr Shapoval (pseudonym Shapik) was killed near Maiorsk in the Donetsk region. He died while performing a task he volunteered for. The ballet soloist of the National Opera of Ukraine went as a volunteer fighter to defend his homeland on February 25, 2022.
Numbers of people killed in the cultural sphere run into the hundreds. "Ballet dancer" seems to sound too fragile for war and the army. But the fact that several people in this profession have already died refutes this.
Shapoval's favorite part was the role of Lukash in the ballet "The Forest Song," which probably speaks volumes about his character. So, how the world-famous dancer joined the army, his military career and motivation are described in the Censor.NET article. In loving memory of the warrior...
ABOUT THE "PAST" LIFE: DEVOTED IN EVERYTHING
Oleksandr was a boy from Kyiv, growing up in Darnytsia under the significant influence of his grandfather, a war veteran. He reached the top in ballet, becoming a soloist at the National Opera despite a serious spinal injury. Throughout his career, he danced about thirty roles, including roles in such iconic ballets as Carmen Suite, The Forest Song, Zorba the Greek, Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, and Don Quixote.
A year before the full-scale invasion, he left the stage and found himself supporting young people - he began teaching couples dance at the Kyiv State Professional Dance College.
He was happily married and had two children, an older son and a younger daughter, whom he encouraged to become a ballerina. He is remembered as modest, devoted, and genuine. In the direct speech of his family and friends, we tried to show what is behind these common words.
His wife Tetiana Shapoval says: "He was raised to be a man of honor and to love his country. Sasha greatly honored and loved his grandfather Lukian, who once ran away to the front, adding a year to his age. He knew the history of the Second World War well. Therefore, for Sasha, the defense of his homeland was important, otherwise he would not be able to live.
He respected the military very much and wanted to become one for some time. It was only later that his fate revolved around dancing. There are many photos and videos of him cleaning his assault rifle with pleasure, practicing shooting. I think that he was very proud of himself and that he was making efforts to make this war end sooner. He was a man of honor."
His friend and colleague Yurii Korobchevskyi also recalls that Oleksandr was modest, "he never boasted without a reason." "When people said to him, 'Sania, you are the best,' he was always shy. He did not believe it when he was awarded the title of Honored Artist. He was just returning from a tour of Japan, and I went with Sasha's family to meet him with champagne and flowers. He didn't believe it until the end. In general, he was quite silent, speaking only about business. In recent years, he became interested in fishing, and could talk about it for a long time and in a fascinating way. It fit his character."
A longtime friend and colleague, Volodymyr Zasukhin, first of all, characterizes Shapoval as very persistent: "He lived all his roles and prepared for them for a long time. On the way to work, he was always silent and danced with his hands. Before each performance, he would come up with a new evocation and feeling of the character."
In 2021, Shapoval said goodbye to the stage, and it is tempting to think that this contributed to his decision to join the army (as if he had already achieved the main thing in his life) without looking back at his career.
Korobchevskyi describes the passion with which Shapoval prepared for his classes: "I would take my daughter to school and invent lessons right in our locker room. I often played the role of a girl, I had to help."
Zasukhin adds: "Sasha quickly adjusted to life without the stage. He was, as they say, in the center of attention - he immediately went to teach. I, for example, took two years to come off.
First of all, he was an actor who worried about his students as much as he did about his roles as Escamillo, Don Quixote, or Lukas. During exams, he was very worried. That's why teaching was also a creative activity for him. In other words, his life was going well. So no one could have imagined that it would end like this."
Shapoval's comrade in arms Roman Turshiiev (pseudonym Greek), with whom Oleksandr was friends for decades, talks about the traits of Oleksandr that not everyone knew: "Sasha was gentle, shy, and to a certain extent, he was an adult child. But this is his country, his city, his family and friends are here. He was really going to defend it, not like some who first enlisted in the company and then started running away in the first two days. Although he was successful in ballet, he could have been a different person at heart."
ABOUT DECISIONS AND MOTIVATION: IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF A GRANDFATHER
Why are we even discussing Oleksandr Shapoval's decision to defend his native land if it is a normal act for a man and a citizen? Because ballet and war are too discordant.
"He made the decision unexpectedly," says Tetiana. - "No one in the family had talked about it the day before, and we hadn't even packed any alarming suitcases. It was only on February 23 that Sasha started preparing our documents in case we had to flee quickly. And on the 25th, he just called me and said: take the car, I'm already at the military commissariat
I asked him how it happened. Sasha admitted that at night, when he went outside for a smoke, he went to the military enlistment office to reconnoiter. His decision was hard for me, but I had to accept it, otherwise we would only quarrel on the phone, and I wanted to enjoy his voice every moment."
Turshiiev, who actually joined the ranks of the defense along with Shapoval, recalls these moments: "It was a very difficult decision, Sasha made it on the 24th, when he came to see me. I had already packed my things for the war, but I didn't tell him about it. I'm the kind of person who needs company, but I hadn't decided who to call and campaign for to go with me. And then he came and said it himself: "Roma, I'm going to the military enlistment office". He was still silent, thinking, maybe he was hesitating.
On the 24th, there was still no full understanding. On the 25th, we met at 8 am. We had information that the military commissariats were closed. I had to go to my apartment, and we saw a bunch of people standing near the house: a thousand people, and we realized that we had to go there. It turned out that it was a recruitment to the TDF of Dniprovskyi district - 112th Brigade, 128th Battalion. There were tables and lines... I said back then: "That's the limit to stand in line for the war." We signed up at many tables, and then one soldier came out and said: "If you want to fight, follow me". And we went. It turned out that this was the last company to be recruited that day.
When we had signed the last papers, he told his wife, asking her to take the car, because we had come in his car."
Korobchevskyi says that Shapoval did not explain his decision to outsiders because it should have been clear: "Everyone knew that his grandfather fought in World War II, and Sasha was very proud of him. That's why he decided in 2022 that he should be in the army and defend his homeland."
"Everyone knew how proud and admired Sasha was of his grandfather," adds Roman Turshiiev. - "He went through the whole war. I don't know how to explain it... Sasha wanted to go to war. He danced, but in his heart, he was a different person. And he understood that a man has a duty to protect in the event of such an invasion. Of course, at that time we did not realize the full scale and challenges that awaited us in the army.
For many years, I participated in reconstructions, in particular for May 9 and the Day of Liberation of Kyiv. I invited Sasha more than once, because he wanted to wear a uniform and shoot. I used to make fun of him later, saying that since he couldn't get to the reenactment, he found himself in a real war."
ABOUT WAR AND BALLET: INVISIBLE ENDURANCE
When you hear that a dancer, especially a ballet dancer, is joining the army, the first thing that comes to mind is that he is strong, because he has learned how to carry ballerinas. In practice, however, everything is more complicated.
Korobchevskyi recalls that Shapoval had a knee injury and refused to undergo surgery: "The doctor told him: "If you don't want to have the surgery, don't do it. But if you stop dancing, you will stop walking." That's why Sasha kept moving, and it helped him later in the war. And we have more stamina than other people because of constant tension and training."
Zasukhin clarifies that the ballet dancers stay on their feet for 16 hours a day: "It happens that we have a flight of more than 12 hours on tour, and two hours later we dance in a performance."
Although his status as a dancer made Oleksandr nervous about joining the army.
"He hid the fact that he was a ballet dancer for a long time," says his wife. - "When they found out at the medical commission, they were very surprised. They asked about the condition of his knees and lower back. Despite the fact that when he was 18 years old, a bus overturned on the way to the tour and Sasha was lying with a compression fracture of the spine for a year. Because of this, they didn't really want to take him to the theater, saying that they didn't need a disabled person, but he achieved his goal."
Turshiiev recalls what it was like when, after the defense of Kyiv, as part of the TDF, the question of joining the Armed Forces arose: "We had an interview. He was very worried that he would not be accepted because he was a ballet dancer. I told him then: "Sasha, everyone is needed here." We agreed that he would go first, and if he wasn't hired, I wouldn't go to the interview at all. He went and came out happy, happy."
ABOUT THE EVERYDAY LIFE OF WAR AND A GRENADE LAUNCHER: HE CARRIED HIS BURDEN
Oleksandr protected his family and friends from the truth of the war, focusing on everyday details. In the Armed Forces, he quickly mastered the use of a grenade launcher. Tetiana explains that nothing is impossible for a stubborn person who has a goal, and Shapoval was exactly that.
"Sasha didn't tell me anything special about the service even afterwards, because we talked on the phone. He only told me where he was stationed and how things were going. He said he was tired of digging trenches and wanted to fight," Korobchevskyi recalls.
"He really complained that it was hard for him to carry a grenade launcher, especially in a 3-5 kilometer raid. Sometimes he was the last one to arrive from the group because he had to carry such a weight."
Zasukhin: "We could hear explosions while talking to him. Sasha said that it was constantly being fired with shells so hard that it was impossible to raise the head. He did not talk about fear, although he told me everything. So it seemed to me that he was indifferent to the shelling.
Then he complained about the grenade launcher. I asked him why he joined the grenade launchers. He replied that there was enough ammunition there, unlike in the regular infantry. But he did not think that he needed to carry this ammunition all the time. But he made the choice, so he carried this burden with dignity."
THE BATTLEFIELD: THE WARRIOR MAN
Oleksandr Shapoval's military fate is described by his comrade-in-arms: "From the first days in the TDF, we were on the outskirts of Kyiv, guarding the Darnytsia DEPOT for 4 days. I remember it all very badly because we hardly slept. Then we stood for two months in the area of Darnytsia Square. It was already clear that Kyiv would not be captured. We formed a kind of initiative group that wanted to meet the enemy and fight. Around March 10-15, we started looking for a place to transfer to, because the fighting was on the outskirts of Kyiv.
Why was there such a need? There are people who are warriors. Maybe he was not really a ballet dancer, but a warrior. Sasha had no fear. He just didn't. I participated in the "Cargo 200" mission back in 2014, so I knew how scary it was. I told Sasha about it, of course. But there was an internal need to get to the fighting.
Later we went to Vorzel and Bucha on patrol. On the second day of the liberation of Bucha, April 3, we gathered 10 people and went to Bucha without an order. In fact, we went for ammunition, because we had nothing ourselves. We brought back quite a lot of ammunition, replenishing the company with a good amount of ammunition.
Then the 5th Assault Regiment began to form. And the same 10 men were transferred there. Around April 25, we received an order and officially joined the 5th Assault Regiment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Then we spent two months practicing operational coordination at the training grounds. Sasha performed all the tasks very conscientiously. Sasha mastered the grenade launcher and was proud of it. He was also proud to master the assault rifle...
On July 27, our battalion was redeployed to the Donetsk region - first to the village of Shumy near Toretsk. And on September 8 - near Maiorsk. There we really saw the war, because what was in Shumy was a children's camp compared to Maiorsk.
There were fierce battles in 3 kilometers, and we had our first two dead in 10. Then we received an order to evacuate the dead and wounded. They asked who was going, and Sasha was one of the first to say he was going. They were supposed to go in for 2-3 hours and evacuate if they found anyone. But because of the massive shelling, they were stuck for 2 days. Now they had to be withdrawn from there.
So Sasha never had time to fight. In fact, many people do not see the war, they may not even have time to get to their positions. So Sasha came under fire. On September 12, when we gathered a group to evacuate them, we found out that Sasha was not lucky. There was a heavy shelling, they were attacked by a tank. The first shot hit the dugout. The men ran out of the trenches, probably wanting to regroup. Sasha hid behind a tree, but in war, it is impossible to hide. The 120th mine landed right on his side. Besides him, another guy was killed, and there were many wounded."
The wife recalls that she could not communicate with Oleksandr often because the Internet was limited at the front, and she and her daughter were already abroad at the time:
"I came to Ukraine in August, when Sasha was already near Donetsk. That was the last time we spoke to him. On the penultimate day of my stay in Ukraine, he called me from a friend's phone because he was completely wishy-washy. He was upset and even depressed.
Upon my arrival in England, contact with Sasha was cut off again, as his number was no longer answered. My son Lukash called the number from which Sasha had called. On Friday, they got on the phone and talked for a very long time - as long as they had ever talked. Usually, shelling interrupted the conversation, but he had already volunteered to go on his last mission and seemed to feel something. He said he wanted two things: he wanted to sleep and he wanted to hug us all..."
AFTER...
"The information about Sasha's death was posted on the Internet almost immediately. I asked for it to be removed immediately because I wanted to tell the mother, who had cancer, myself, and she shouldn't find out about it from social media. My daughter Mariia learned about it from her friends, who began to express their condolences.
We received a lot of help and support. Thank you for transporting the body quickly. Sasha died on Monday, the body was already in Kyiv on Wednesday, and the funeral took place on Saturday. The National Opera and comrades-in-arms were very supportive. If it wasn't for them, I don't know how I would have survived. In England, many people also supported me. I even had a man from Ireland write to me, who dedicated a song to Sasha and continued to donate to Ukraine."
Now, as Tetiana admits, she and her children find themselves in a situation that many families of fallen soldiers find themselves in: trying to compensate for the pain with activity.
"The pain is not drowned out, it's very hard," she says. - "I suppressed it in myself, but I had unshed tears. Five months after Sasha, my mom died too. My children and I remember him with a smile. There is not a day when I do not say the phrase "Sasha used to say this...".
It is very difficult for my daughter as well. Her father was everything to her. Lukash gave her support and kindness. One day Masha and I were talking about love, and she said how much she missed her father's words, how beautiful, incredible, talented she was... He literally kissed her. Now I have to give her this feeling. I have to continue to be both a dad and a mom, and I don't have enough resources for that. In order not to sit at home and cry, I constantly find something to do.
I was called to the college where my daughter was studying, claiming that Masha was not smiling. At that moment, everything inside me seemed to break. I told them that I thank God that she is talking after what she went through. When she goes on stage, she will smile. Now leave her alone."
Mariia has a common dream with her father - to become a professional ballerina. Her mother and brother support her in this. And her father gives her strength from heaven and continues to serve as an example. Let's remember Oleksandr in his favorite role of Lukas.
Olha Skorokhod, Censor. NET
