Veteran Oleksandr Mazurenko (Mekhan) on obstacles to business in Bila Tserkva: I’ll force them to sort things out. Otherwise, what did I fight for? So that everything would stay as it was?
Oleksandr, 47, from Bila Tserkva, a recipient of the Order "For Courage," served in the war of 2014–2015. He voluntarily returned to his home unit, the 72nd Brigade, in 2022 and stopped Russian tanks near Brovary. After being seriously wounded in Vuhledar and being demobilized, he resumed his own business—furniture manufacturing—but it seems not everyone in Bila Tserkva is happy about it.
"I could buy six flats in Prague, rent them out and not have to worry about a thing, but I want to develop a business in Ukraine and provide jobs for the wounded, even though they are trying not to support my work as a veteran, but rather to hinder it"
After the Maidan, it became a common refrain that it was precisely those who had forced the criminal leadership of the state to flee, those who had gone as volunteers to the Donbas to fight back against the Russians, who would finally bring order to the country. "Once the lads return from the trenches, they’ll sort everything out" – it’s easy to say that, because when wounded men, discharged from the army, start to bring that very order to their home towns, there are those who are far from pleased about it. What’s more, they are turning people against the veterans who are striving for change. A similar situation is now gathering momentum in Bila Tserkva.
"WE’VE ALREADY BEEN THROUGH THE PHASE OF CHANGING OUR SHOES ON A PIECE OF CARDBOARD"
"I got into the furniture business in 2015 – that was when I was demobilised from the 72nd Brigade," says Oleksandr Mazurenko, call sign Mekhan. "I now have 50 people working for me. Among them are soldiers who were in terrible assaults, suffered serious injuries, and are trying to return to civilian life…" Unfortunately, society doesn’t always help them adapt after the war. One of my managers came to his job interview feeling despondent because no one else would hire him. Nobody says it to their face, but there’s this attitude towards those who’ve fought – that they’re supposedly unstable, and you never know what to expect from them… But that’s not what I’m talking about. The business has been running for a long time, and this February I found and bought premises for a shop on OLX. It was being sold because it was difficult to work there. The shop is in a private building, but the area is enclosed; there were no access roads or walkways to the shop, even though there should be. This lack of access was due to a market situated right next to the building. However, according to the plans and the existing layout of the trading stalls, there should be access to the building. Everyone knows this, but they pretend not to understand how it should actually be.
Why did I buy a shop there specifically? Because the coach station is nearby, where coaches arrive from Kaharlyk, Tarashcha and Skvyra. It’s a high-traffic location, right in the centre of Bila Tserkva. People can pop in even just to have a look at what our production has to offer and think about what might suit them.
The Central Market—officially known as ‘Comfort’ Ltd—is stuck in the 1990s; time has stood still here. You could film a movie set in that era without needing any sets. Back in the 1990s, the stalls and containers were brand new, but now they’re ancient and have lost their lustre and relevance. The market has a meat hall and a dairy hall. Near the building where I set up a furniture showroom, people are selling goods: jackets, jumpers, shoes. And all this isn’t in specially designated areas within the market itself, but actually on the approach to the building, in temporary tents which have not only been standing here for years, but are also being sold as trading pitches. I responded to an advert on one of the tents, asking whether, upon purchase, they would issue me with a title deed and draw up the necessary paperwork for this trading pitch. Nobody even understands what I’m on about. Because it’s impossible to sell or formalise. According to the market’s layout documents, there shouldn’t be anything in those spots at all! In other words, they're selling thin air, renting out thin air.
Immediately after buying the premises in February, I went to the market administration, because there was absolutely no access to the building—not even three metres, not even one and a half. I said: "Good people. I’m in the business of such-and-such. According to the documents, there should be both driveways and walkways here." In response, they promised to clear everything away after winter. They also promised to remove the rubbish bins, which aren’t supposed to be near the building either. We shook hands, sealing a gentleman’s agreement.
The cold spell ended, and the snow melted. The market inspector turned up; he walks the aisles, knows everyone who trades there, settles disputes – you could call him the market manager. He had a look around and started fobbing me off with promises: ‘Let’s do it on Thursday, on Saturday…’ I realised I was being strung along. I got fed up with it very quickly. I went into the office and spoke to the deputy director. I asked him: "Didn’t we have an agreement?" – "Well, what can I say… The director isn’t here, the accountant isn’t here…" He really annoyed me. In a fit of anger, I even knocked over one of the stalls myself. But nobody even called the police, even though I’d asked them to. And they didn’t call them because they’re not supposed to be there! But tearing everything down yourself isn’t the answer either; you have to do everything by the law. I wrote letters to all the authorities involved in this matter: the State Emergency Service, the State Consumer Protection Agency, and I went to the veterans’ organisation. One day I bumped into the mayor. He invited me to his office for a chat, but I know he won’t be of any help… You see, the entire market administration consists of former police officers who used to work in the economic crimes division… The market director is Oleh Semenyshyn; his deputy is Mykhailo Polizhak. The accountant, Maria Stepanivna, is the right-hand woman of the market’s owner, who lives abroad and cares about only one thing: that the money comes in on time. The accountant’s son is the director of the indoor market at the same complex… Of course, they don’t want to change the established order of things, let alone modernise the market or bring it up to standard. But I fought against all of them in 2013–2014, so they know me well. I was among those who toppled the Lenin monument in the city, who drove the local authorities of the time out of their offices… But, unfortunately, in our city, only the photographs of the city’s leadership have changed, whilst the approach to resolving issues has remained the same. That is why I decided to speak out widely about what is happening here. So that those responsible for addressing violations and inspecting passageways and entrances would not even be tempted to accept bribes from them.
After the promises were not kept, I decided we would act in accordance with the law. There are so many violations at that market that they'll be working just to pay the fines!
In comments to the media, the market administration says they’ve cleared the driveways and done more for the veteran than they even could have, but the stalls – which, according to the documents, shouldn’t be there – are still in place, and the rubbish bins haven’t been cleared away either. That is precisely why we need the intervention of other services, inspections and an independent decision. This is exactly what Oleksandr is insisting on.
- A man – a representative of the stallholders from those stalls – has already approached me with a proposal to come to an understanding. But I had no intention of sorting things out with them or having a row. I have no grievances against the people in the stalls. I bought the premises to develop my business. Don’t I realise that the market administration wants to take photos of my ‘row’ with the stallholders? They’re shrewd ‘chess players’. But that’s not the crux of the problem. The market is unsanitary. This is the real shanghai. People from Bila Tserkva hardly ever go there. Rubbish bins stand right next to the shop. Green flies the size of hornets are swarming about. It stinks so badly you can’t breathe.
And you know, we’ve already been through this phase of ‘changing shoes on a piece of cardboard’. A businessman only thrives when he thinks and learns every day, develops himself, and explores new opportunities and technologies. That’s the only way to achieve success, but over there, everything’s stuck in the last century.
"MY ARM WAS PRACTICALLY TORN OFF. IT TOOK 20 OPERATIONS, BUT THEY SAVED IT"
Oleksandr had other businesses as well: for a while he was involved in the grain trade. He is one of those people who, in 2013, spoke out against joining the ‘taiga alliance’ with russia, who wanted and are fighting for the right to development and a European way of life.
- My like-minded friends and I would travel to Maidan in Kyiv from time to time. We were standing on Instytutska Street when the Maidan was on fire. I remember arriving – there were loads of people around. But after a while, I came back, and there were only about a hundred of us left. Everyone else had gone. If they hadn’t set fire to the planks and shields, the security forces would have swept us away. That day, a rubber bullet hit me in the jaw. I went into the trade union building, and on the sixth floor they fished it out for me. I came down from there, and about 40 minutes later the building caught fire; people were jumping out of the windows. That day, I saw with my own eyes the bodies of the dead lying under blue and green chequered blankets…
After the events on the Maidan, I travelled with a group of volunteers to ‘Azov’, as part of which I took part in the assault on the occupiers on Hretska Street in Mariupol.
This photo was taken in 2014 in Berdiansk, at the ‘Azov’ base
I transferred to the 72nd Brigade when I realised that the volunteers didn’t have the necessary military expertise and didn’t know how to carry out assault operations. They trained hard and were motivated, but they also needed military expertise. So I returned home, went to the military recruitment office and was assigned to the 3rd Battalion of the 72nd Brigade. People asked me at the time: "Where are you going? It’s not easy there." Our infantry were retreating at the time. During the unit’s heavy fighting, several officers from the battalion headquarters were killed. It was then that Valerii Fedorovych Hudz took command. I was fortunate enough to serve under his command.
Oleksandr has the utmost respect for Valerii Hudz, under whose command he served in the 72nd Brigade, and he constantly quotes him. Valerii Fedorovych was killed in March 2022 in the Donbas and was posthumously awarded the title of ‘Hero of Ukraine’.
In 2015, the line of defence stopped advancing. They began to divide up Bohdanivka, and strange orders not to fire started appearing. That wasn’t for me. I went back to my own business. I’m not a military man, after all. I’m ready to fight, but I can’t be bothered with nonsense. I consider myself a patriot of Ukraine and prove it not with words, but with deeds. My child didn’t go anywhere when the full-scale offensive began; my wife stayed at home, as did my parents, even though the Katsaps were landing in Vasylkiv. It’s a matter of principle for our whole family to live in and develop Ukraine for as long as we have the strength.
To be honest, I didn’t believe there would be a major war. At five in the morning, when rockets flew over Bila Tserkva and the city was being heavily shelled, it all came as a shock to me. Literally the very next day, Serhii Solomatyn, who had served in ‘Azov’ – their base was in Makariv, which the Russians had already entered – came to see me. Together, we set off for my home unit, the 3rd Battalion. My younger brother was with us. We took our carbines and headed to Brovary, where the unit was already stationed.
Oleksandr was awarded the Order ‘For Courage’ for defending Kyiv. He took part in that ambush when a Russian army tank column was advancing on Brovary.
- I was among those who fired on that column. In the first battle, a soldier with the call sign ‘Bandit’ fired off his entire ammunition load. I drove to Andrii Verkhohliad, call sign ‘Livsha’, in Hoholiv – he gave us eight rockets. Why did that column advance on us so boldly? Because they had intelligence suggesting we had nothing with which to strike them. But they were wrong. We set fire to their vehicles and captured a lot of them. I took an MTLB – it had been abandoned, not even with the engine switched off. I also captured Russian tanks. All in all, we captured no fewer than 18 tanks there.
During the same days we were setting up the ambush, we went to help a civilian family who’d been shot at whilst trying to drive out of Chernihiv. The Russians already had positions in Zalissia. And they opened fire with their assault rifles on the car full of people. The father was wounded, and the little girl was shot in the arm. We took them to a safe place and called an ambulance. I remember they even had a parrot in that car…
It was in the Donetsk region that Oleksandr was wounded. At first it was a minor injury, then a serious one.
- I sustained my first injury in the village of Vershyna, not far from Zaitseve. It was in that area and at the time when Andrii Verkhohliad, ‘Livsha’, was killed. A piece of mortar shrapnel struck me on the nose. I was discharged after three weeks. I returned to my unit, but I couldn't get to my position. It felt as though every mine was aimed at me. Until a piece of shrapnel actually hits you, you perceive the war and the shelling differently. After being wounded, when you know what it’s really like, it’s harder to fight. I asked the company commander to let me stay off duty for another week – I needed to go for some cross-country runs to shake off the injury. For me, running is a great stress reliever. I run all my problems off. If there’s an important issue, I put on my trainers and go for a run. I usually come back with a solution within an hour. After my first injury, running also allowed me to return to my unit and continue fighting effectively.
In Kurakhove, Oleksandr set up and actively developed a laboratory where they produced the first FPV and fitted the Mavics so that they could fly 20 kilometres deep into enemy territory. At the time, that was quite a feat. What’s more, Oleksandr ensured that the footage from these drones was seen not only by the command, but also by the soldiers on the front line. The development of unmanned systems in the 72nd Brigade is entirely down to Oleksandr.
- I was wounded for the second time in Vuhledar. My arm was practically torn off, but they sewed it back on and saved it. I had twenty operations! And my leg was shattered. Part of the muscle in my left leg was torn out. Artillery was firing at us back then, and it was heavy...
After his second injury, Oleksandr underwent a lengthy period of treatment, following which he was demobilised in 2024. He was awarded a Category III disability rating.
- But I’ve recovered; I even run, even though I have metal plates in both my leg and my arm.
My pension currently amounts to 16,000 hryvnias. How is a man supposed to support himself, his wife and child on that? What can he possibly do on 16,000 hryvnias? It’s a sin for me to complain, because I had a business that kept going, even though 12 men were called up to the army. There are those who have been killed, and there are those who are missing in action. But the factory is still running. I had somewhere to return to. But I understand how difficult it is for the wounded and demobilised to find work. That is precisely why we employ those who have fought, and support them as best we can. This is the stance my wife and I share.
Given the situation surrounding my shop, I’m asking for the bare minimum – for the regulatory authorities to come, have a look and determine whether there are any breaches. If there aren’t, let them give an official response. If there are, let them sort it out. I’m not asking to be carried on people’s shoulders; I’ll do everything and earn my own living. I haven’t gone to the town hall so far, nor have I asked for anything. The main thing for me is that they don’t get in my way. I’ll set everything up myself and do it as it should be done. To date, the only service that has responded to my letters is the veterans’ centre. All the others have sent form letters. The city council has acknowledged that there are obstacles to the building, but has taken no action. But I will force them to sort things out. Otherwise, what did I fight for? So that everything would stay as it was? No! It won’t be like that.
Violetta Kirtoka, Censor.NET
