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21.02.25 23:13 108 180 38

Company commanders of 66th Brigade, Nazarii and Nazar: With attitude of ’I will not go’, enemy will come to where you live

After early graduation from the Lviv Ground Forces Academy in 2023, both friends chose to serve in the 66th Brigade. In January, Nazar was severely wounded. Nazar continues to defend the country and take revenge for his comrade.

In the photo: Nazar, call sign Khmuryi ("Frowny"), on the left, and Nazarii, called Medvid ("Bear"), on the right

Photo by Anastasiia Blyshchyk

Both are tall and handsome. One is 22 years old, the other is 23. Nazarii is from the Verkhovyna district of Ivano-Frankivsk, while Nazar is from the Mostyska district of Lviv region. The boys met when they were entering the Lviv Ground Forces Academy and have been friends ever since. They were in the same platoon and the same company of the same faculty...Nazarii Medvedchuk has the call sign "Medvid". When I asked him if he was related to Medvedchuk, he joked: "Yeah, yeah. He really set me up, the bastard. He disgraced my family name! I’ll probably take my wife’s surname, I won’t get far with mine." His friend has the call sign "Khmuryi." "At first, I was 'Uhriumyi (Gloomy),' then 'Khmuryi,'" Nazar explains. "I’ve always been gloomy, I never like anything, so they gave me this call sign." But I found it strange because, throughout our conversation, the guys were joking and smiling.

After we had recorded the interview and I was working on it, I received news that one of my friends, Nazarii Medvedchuk, had been seriously wounded. He lost his right arm, his face was badly cut, and one of his eyes was damaged. But he is alive. It is clear that his family needs support, so we are publishing the bank details of the infantryman himself, his mother, and the friend who opened the account.

Card numbers:

4149499088295173

Nazarii Medvedchuk

4441111026103303

Marusia Medvedchuk

Link to the jar:

https://send.monobank.ua/jar/77TFNheYwr

"FOR SOME REASON, THE EXPERIENCED ONES ARE THE FIRST TO BE WIA (Wounded in action)"

– Why did you both choose the infantry department?

– "Infantry is the best branch there is," says Medvid. "I learned this back in the lyceum where I studied."

– Yes," Khmuryi adds. - "We also graduated from military lyceums. I graduated from the Lviv Military Lyceum, and Nazarii from the Prykarpattia Military Lyceum."

– Why did you decide to pursue a military career? Did the war in the country influence your choice?

– "Of course it did," says Khmuryi. "My brother was on the Maidan, then he fought in the ATO in 2014. I already wanted to join the army back then... I just wasn’t old enough yet. So I entered a lyceum, then the academy."

– "At school, I told my mother that I wanted to be a soldier and go to a lyceum," Medvid adds. "There are no military personnel in my family; no one has ever fought."

– My grandfather was a warrant officer a long time ago," says Khmuryi.

– When did you graduate from the Academy?

– "In 2023, on 22 February," Medvid replies, "Nazar and I were planning to join the same unit.

– "It was important for us to get into the same unit," says Khmuryi. "There were three officer positions in the 66th Brigade, so we decided to go there. We had a rough idea of the area where the brigade was conducting combat operations."

– And where did you arrive?

– "Sloviansk. Two days after graduation. We were supposed to take positions as platoon commanders. But after a while, I was assigned as an officer in the comprehensive support department with the rank of captain. And you?" Medvid asked Khmuryi.

– I was appointed assistant to the head of the operational department, also at headquarters.

– "After a week and a half, I realized that paperwork wasn't for me," Medvid continues.

– "Not so much the paperwork as the headquarters itself," Khmuryi smiles.

– "I went to Colonel Suprun, who was the brigade commander at the time and said, 'Colonel, staplers and paperwork aren’t for me. Send me to a battalion, any battalion where there’s a spot,'" Medvid recalls. "The brigade commander listened, and the next day, I packed my gear and was sent to the 1st Separate Rifle Battalion as an intelligence officer."

– Where was it stationed?

– In the village of Zarichne. Our positions were in Nevske. I got to know my unit and spent some time getting familiar with everything. A month and a half later, we started carrying out missions—mapping unit movement routes, establishing new positions, bringing in personnel, and securing areas. We were preparing positions for the infantry to hold.

– Was it more interesting than staplers and paperwork?

– It's much more interesting!

– But there was gunfire, assaults...

– That's why we came here!" Khmuryi explains to me.

– "Four years of studying just to sit with a stapler and papers? What’s the point of training for so long?" Medvid reacts to my question. "And six months later, I had my first combat engagement… It was in September. I was leading reinforcements to a position in Nevske. I got the men into position, then pulled back about 300-400 meters. I took cover in a pipe with my signalman. We spent the night there. The next day, the enemy came in such numbers that our forward posts did not have time to eliminate them... That’s when the enemy got very close to me, and I killed my first enemy in combat."

In the photo: Nazarii, call sign Medvid

Photo by Anastasia Blyshchyk

And the very first combat engagement under my command, after I became a company commander, took place in May. The active phase in our sector began in early May and lasted for about four months. That was when we suffered our first irrecoverable losses and our first WIA. Back then, we faced two or three enemy assaults per day.

– Nazar, when did you have your first clashes? And how long did you stay at headquarters?"

(I ask Khmuryi)

– "I stayed with the paperwork a little longer. I got tired of it too. And I also asked Brigade Commander Suprun to transfer me to any company, to any position, just to carry out real combat tasks. At that time, a fire support company was being formed, and I was sent there. I took part in building the unit from scratch—finding personnel, training them myself. Once the company was formed, we coordinated with the battalions and deployed our fire support assets. We had the fire support company itself, and then separate platoons—machine gun, grenade launcher, and ATGM platoons. These independent units were attached to different battalions. Of course, I went out with the guys on the first missions, setting up positions for machine guns and grenade launchers, and working on fortifications."

In the photo: Nazar, call sign Khmuryi

Photo by Anastasiia Blyshchyk

It was a serious first combat experience... I was appointed commander of the 3rd Mechanized Company, where I still serve, but back then, I was just attached to them because they had no commander. The brigade commander himself gave us the task—he didn’t brief anyone else. Our brigade was supposed to carry out assault operations. We had to secure a foothold in the enemy’s positions. And, as always, nothing went according to plan...

– "Well, you did secure a foothold," says Medvid.

– Yes, we have gained a foothold. But at the cost of losses, the assaulting units took casualties under heavy shelling, so we had to move in earlier to help them finish the assault. We were already under fire as we moved out in our vehicles. And then, when we dismounted and started splitting into groups to advance on the positions, the fire continued.

– Was there any panic?

– No. But people often get disoriented. You lead one group, get them in position, and by the time you go back for the second group, the first ones have already pulled back under fire. So you have to go after them again, bring them back... Not by force. But when they see you, they follow.

– And how do you keep your morale up?

– There is no choice, says Medvid.

– It’s not just that there’s no choice. It’s all adrenaline. You lead by example—if I go, you go. No matter what. The moment I step forward, they step forward too. Something clicks in their heads, and they’re ready to move with you. And then there’s the chaos, the shouting, maybe calling someone the wrong words…

– "Give a slap," Medvid adds.

– I had to slap him to snap him out of it," Khmuryi continues. "And that’s it—he sits down, takes a minute to think, and gets back to work... Back then, I had a lot of sharp sergeants, ready to go. But the thing is, for some reason, the experienced ones are always the first to be WIA."

– "Murphy’s law..." Medvid adds.

– We’ve been holding the line in these areas for as long as we’ve been in the brigade. Our unit took part in the Kharkiv special operation—pushing forward, retaking Lyman, storming Nevske and Makiivka…

– "Ploshchanka," Medvid prompts

– Ploshchanka all the way to Chervonopopivka… We’ve got combat experience. It’s just that the ones who were in those operations, the more seasoned fighters, they’re not here anymore. People used to be more motivated. Now, it’s harder to work with them.

"ALL GROWN MEN ACT TOUGH UNTIL THE FIRST DIFFICULT SITUATION. AND THEN, LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN, THEY CALL OVER THE RADIO: "COMMANDER, WHAT SHOULD WE DO?"

– When were you appointed company commanders? How long ago?

– "I've been a company commander since July 2023, for a year and a half," Medvid replies.

– "I`ve been one for less time," says Khmuryi.

– "Two months less. Want to hear how I got appointed company commander?" – Medvid chuckles.

– Yes.

– "So, I’m sitting in HQ with the battalion commander, handling some tasks on Kropyva, planning the missions for the next day," Medvid recalls. - "Then the former brigade commander, Colonel Suprun, shows up to talk to the battalion commander. And he says: ‘We've got a problem. The commander of the 2nd company is being transferred. His deputy, who took over, is also transferring in three days. There are no officers left in the company. I need someone for the job.’ The brigade commander replies: ‘You’ve got a young, promising lieutenant. Nazar, get in here!’ So I step in, and he just goes: ‘Right, tomorrow you’re heading out to take over the company.’ And that was that. At the time, I knew maybe two or three guys in the whole company—out of sixty-six."

– And how many positions were there?

– Eight.

– So, these people had to be brought in, taken out, supplied with everything......

– At that time, we were rotating companies. The units were more or less fully staffed. After the assault on Ploshchanka, the battalion was cut down from three companies to two—too many killed and wounded. One company was made up of those who were still recovering, only fit for limited duty. By the time I arrived, my company had just rotated out of position. I showed up, the deputy company commander was leaving—I greeted him, and, roughly three hours later, he was gone. I called the battalion commander: "Sir, no one’s explained anything to me..." And he just goes: "You took the ball, so f#cking play.

– Classic army story

– Classic... When I was transferred from the recon platoon, I asked the battalion commander to let my recon platoon leader come with me. We arrived almost at the same time—me first, then him two weeks later. We started our service together, knew each other well, always worked side by side. I needed him in the company so we could rely on each other... That was it, I took command. They introduced me to the company. The guys had a laugh: "Our new commander—21 years old! And we’ve got guys here who are 45 plus. This kid is gonna be in charge of us?"

– "Why are you telling such scary stories?" trolls his friend Khmuryi.

- "On the third day—off to the positions," Medvid continues. "That’s when you really start getting to know people. The company command-and-observation post was about a kilometer and a half from the frontline. Every morning, I’d get up early and head out to meet the guys. I went to every position. They saw that I wasn’t just sitting back at еру company command-and-observation post, that I came to them, checked how things were set up. 'The commander was here—so I’m not abandoned.' And that’s how you start building trust."

– And how were the positions set up—were they normal? Or did you see things that needed fixing?

– "There’s always something to fix," Khmuryi remarks.

– "It’s never 'good enough'," Medvid adds. "There’s always something messed up, always something to improve. And little by little, day by day, you start figuring people out—who’s brig rat, who’s competent, who you can count on. Who’s the natural leader in the group, and who needs to be dealt with fast because they’re just getting in the way. After a month and a half, two months—you’re part of the team."

– And did the guys start accepting you?

– I’ll tell you this: they’re all grown men until the first real fight. The moment things get rough, they’re on the radio like little kids: ‘Commander, what do we do?’" When the enemy was hitting us with assaults all day long, two or three waves at a time, every evening I’d go to the positions with my deputy or a platoon commander to check on things. The guys knew—if the commander showed up, it meant things weren’t that bad. He’s here, he’s got control, he’s giving orders. And yeah, sometimes we had to go into the grey zone to recover the wounded and the dead.

– In person?

– Yeah. Me and the executive officer of the 1st company. One day, just the two of us went. It was only about forty meters away, but it was in the grey zone—we had pushed the enemy out of that position. There were piles of enemy bodies, and we had to find our own among them. We found him and pulled him out. When people see things like that, it means a lot to them. I also went with Nazar once.

– "That was when I was the fire support company commander," Khmuryi explains. "I was setting up my team with Medvid. My company had only one grenade launcher platoon assigned to their battalion, just two MK-19 crews—automatic grenade launchers."

– "The position I took over had already seen assault operations, so command ordered us to reinforce it."

– Did the enemy attack with vehicles or on foot?

– "On foot. I took over a defensive sector that had been attacked about a month before," Medvid says. "That’s when Nazar’s team was attached to us."

- "When you’re attaching a unit, you go in first yourself for preliminary reconnaissance. Tomorrow, I was supposed to send a team to your battalion, so I had to go check out a position. That’s it—I arrived, we went together to find a spot. The next day, I brought my guys, and we set up there," Khmuryi explains.

– It never happened that you go to look for positions together, two company commanders, and say to each other: "What are we doing here?"

– No," Khmuryi replies.

– On the contrary, it's interesting," Medvid adds. - "You go to a new place, which is assigned to you, after the assault. On the contrary, you want to look around, you want to find out what's there. You want to know everything about this place.

– We stationed the crew, and Nazarii said: "Come on, I'll show you my positions," Khmuryi says.

– "About 60 meters in front of my forward position, there was an enemy observation post. It wasn’t active all the time—they’d come in, take turns on watch, then leave. While Nazar and I were walking, we decided to pay the enemy a little visit. There was still a 'KIA' (Killed in action) b#stard lying there. Before we went in, we secured our positions—set up our teams, machine guns, and put sharp senior sergeants on overwatch to cover us if anything happened. We went in, no enemy in sight. Checked things out, borrowed what we needed, and rolled back," says Medvid.

– "We almost got blown up by mines on the way," Khmuryi adds. "There was another guy with us—he stepped on a mine and lost a leg. We had to evac him fast. Lucky for us, the enemy didn’t spot us and didn’t open fire. Then I nearly got blown up too, but the kid saved me."

– "I pushed him just in time—saw Nazar stepping on a mine and shoved him out of the way," Medvid says.

– "While I was providing aid, Nazarii carried our gear to the position," Khmuryi recalls. "I applied a tourniquet and started dragging the wounded soldier back. As I was pulling him, a friend ran up and helped me. We got him to the position."

– "We almost dragged that b#stard along with us," says Medvid.

– Yeah, a corpse. Then...

– "We decided to go back to that observation post," Medvid continues.

– "During the evacuation, we noticed that the enemy had some interesting weapons at the observation post," Khmuryi recalls.

– "Didn’t you think someone might show up there?"

– "We just got lucky," Khmuryi repeats.

– What kind of weapons were there?

– A couple of machine guns, a couple of assault rifles, and the corresponding ammo for all the weapons stationed at the observation post. And when we pulled out the 'WIA,' I said to Nazarii, 'There’s a bunch of gear there we can take.' So we decided to go back and grab it all.

– "We didn’t go there for nothing. We wouldn’t have forgiven ourselves if we had left all that behind," Medvid adds.

– Did you collect everything that same day and bring it back?

– Twenty minutes later, we went back. This time, we moved fast because we knew exactly where to go. Thank God we got lucky—the shelling started just as we were evacuating the wounded.

In the photo: Friends with trophies

"TO BREAK THROUGH TO OUR OWN, WE DUG A TRENCH USING TMs"

– "At first, I was the commander of a fire support company," Khmuryi continues. "Then I was assigned to the 3rd Mechanized Company—it was supposed to reinforce the position, but there was no commander. The brigade commander appointed me for the duration of the operation: I had to go in, complete the task, and then return to my unit. We consolidated. Then the assault troops moved out. After that, we started evacuating WIAs because we had been shelled by artillery all night long. 'Solntsepyoks' rolled in, mortars and artillery pounded the position relentlessly. But we completed the task—everyone was celebrating: 'We did it, we`ve gained a foothold!'"

"On the second day, the enemy started counterattacking to reclaim their positions. We repelled the first assault, then the second, then the third. Back then, FPV drones weren’t being used on such a massive scale, but we were still being hit by them. One man ended up saving almost all of us. The only shelter left on the enemy’s position was a section of a covered trench, and we couldn’t all fit inside. During the shelling, one fighter was the last to run in. He froze at the entrance—an FPV drone hit him directly, burning a hole right through his back. He didn’t survive. But if it hadn’t been for him, there would have been more KIAs and WIAs.’ No doubt about it. After that, we held off the assaults.

Photo by Anastasiia Blyshchyk

We had heavy losses—there was no one left to rotate in. By order of the brigade commander, we were told to fall back to the positions of the unit behind us. So we withdrew to them. While we were regrouping, we discovered that one of our ‘WIA’ was actually alive—we had thought he was a ‘KIA.’ A direct hit struck the dugout where three of our men had been, and we assumed all three were dead. But then we spotted, via drone, one of them crawling out of the dugout. When the enemy entered, they tried to finish him off—shot him in the shoulder. Somehow, he survived. He eventually came to his senses. It was winter, freezing temperatures, knee-deep water in the trench—everything was frozen, and he suffered frostbite as well. We managed to evacuate him with the help of our neighbour unit on the right, the 49th Battalion ‘Carpathian Sich.’ We got him out. By that time, our company was almost wiped out. Many of the best guys were wounded.

– Did you return to your unit as ordered?

– At that time, we were attached to the 3rd Battalion. Since there were so few of us left in the company, the brigade commander told me: ‘You’ll stay with the unit you were reassigned to.’ We fought alongside those guys for a while, and after some tough battles, I told them I was willing to stay with the 3rd Company. Later, we were reassigned back to our original battalion and took up defensive positions in our sector.

Before I took command, the company was considered one of the weakest in the battalion. But over time, things gradually improved. We focused on fortifying our positions.

You see, every company has its backbone. Not everyone gets killed, but a lot—50 percent or more—get wounded. Recovery times vary—some are back in a month, others in six, depending on the severity of their wounds. Those who have been with the unit from the start, since the brigade was formed, have already been wounded multiple times, and many of them have returned. If there’s a strong team, a sense of family, if the unit trusts its commander and the commander trusts his people, they are willing to come back. That’s the backbone. The rest? They’re the ones who were rounded up, sent in, just stuck onto the unit—not the most reliable… But not all of them run. Take Hrechka (buckwheat), for example. He used to serve in the artillery. They reassigned him to our company. I never expected him to turn out to be the best infantryman, the best sergeant—he always got the job done, any task. And he’s still in unit.

– "When new guys come in, the first step is an interview," says Medvid. "Then you need a couple of days of training. Some show up straight from 'boot camp' with barely any live-fire experience. But after a week of hands-on training, you start to see who’s who. The older guy, the one who's been around longer, has more combat experience. That one’s a troublemaker. This fighter is solid, and that one—well, unless you yell at him, he won’t lift a finger. So, you assign tasks accordingly."

– I feel the same way," Khmuryi agrees. - "There are good specialists. Of course, the battalion has its own UAV platoon that flies, but you always want to have everything in your unit. Accordingly, we organised surveillance, tablets at each position, ammunition was delivered, evacuation worked - everything was set up.

– There were even cameras," says Medvid.

– That was when things were more or less calm," Khmuryi explains.

– "The war is progressing rapidly," Medvid continues. - "Previously, neither we nor the enemy had so many drones. Now you don't even have time to install a camera - it's immediately destroyed. You'll be sick and tired of buying new ones.

– "There were calmer moments," Khmuryi recalls. "We also took up positions after assaults—completely unequipped. From one of them, the enemy was just 70 meters away, and you could see him across the ravine. If he stood up to his full height, you could tell if he was wearing glasses or even had a ring on his finger—that’s how close they were. We had positions where we simply couldn’t rotate our guys out. Any movement would trigger a firefight from three sides. No drones, no fancy tech—just relentless small arms fire that kept us pinned down. So we had to find a way. We took TM mines, set them up, blew them, and carved out 100 meters of trench that way. I personally carried those mines. That’s how we broke through to our own. The soil in these areas is specific. And in winter, it freezes solid. If you want to dig, you need to get down with a pickaxe and hack at it. But you can’t do that—not with the enemy just 70 meters away. The moment they spot you digging, that’s it—they’ll open up with small arms, or worse, hit you with mortars or AGS."

– But you managed to dig the trench

– We did. With struggle, with cursing—but we did it.

– It is often said: 'We took unprepared positions.' But who is supposed to prepare them?"

– "I have never, in any unit, met a soldier who arrived and said: 'This time, everything’s ready!' No. You can never please people," says Medvid.

– "No one understands the need to dig until the first shells start hitting until they have to carry the KIAs themselves," Khmuryi adds. "The longer you serve, the more you realize—dig in well, and your chances of survival go up. Most of the new guys don’t get it. Even the younger ones... But the old ones, the "backbone" fighters, the 'old men'—they know. They dig, no questions asked. The young ones? 'Eh, later...'"

– How often do you see each other and call each other?

– "Now our units are located next door to each other in the same village," Medvid replies.

– "Yes, we are neighbour units, I'm on the left, he's on the right," Khmuryi adds.

– "We don't see each other every day, because everyone is at their own command and observation post. But we call each other every evening," Medvid adds.

– "We talk very often," says Khmuryi.

– We have the same road to the position, so we work in cooperation," Medvid clarifies.

"I WASN’T JUMPING AROUND IN MY MOTHER’S WOMB WITH A MACHINE GUN"

– Have you had any leave during this time?

– Yes," says Medvid.

– "For the first time in my entire service, I went on leave after a year and a half," Khmuryi says. "And it’s not that they wouldn’t let me go. It’s just that there were too many unresolved issues, and I couldn’t afford to just drop everything. Either the situation didn’t allow it, or there was too much-unfinished work that needed to be done. Now, of course, if the opportunity is there—no problem. You’ve done your job, you have sergeants who can cover for you. Then you can leave with a clear conscience, though you still sit at home glued to your phone, calling every day: 'Is everything okay?"

– "When things calmed down a bit, they told me, 'Commander, you can go, take a breather,'" Medvid adds.

– Forgive me for asking a "stupid" question: do you think you were born for war?

– "There are no people born for war," Medvid replies. - "I was not jumping around in my mother's womb with a machine gun... Every person has to understand for himself: either you are a man, take your balls in your hands, or sit and wait...

– "Sooner or later, the war will reach them," Khmuryi adds. "With this attitude—'I'm not going,' 'Me neither,' 'I'm not going because I wasn't born for war'... Well, fine. Then the enemy will come to where you live, and you'll have no choice but to be 'born for war' after all."

– You're from western Ukraine. You could have said: 'When the war comes here, then we'll go serve."

– Why would I want my home to end up like this? I have a family, relatives. We've built something, worked for something, achieved something in life. And now, just like that, to have everything wiped out by artillery and Grads? I don’t want my home to turn into this, to switch places. That doesn't work for me. And living like these Russian idiots? That doesn't work for me either.

– How many from your turnout are in the army now?

– "All of us," Medvid says. "There were about 116 of us in our graduating class. Fifteen guys have already been killed. About ten are serving in various military academies—the National Academy, the one in Zhytomyr. A small group is in rear units. But the majority are in combat roles."