War and Novorossia
My interlocutor Igor Pykhalov does not need a wide view. The books that came out of his pen - “The Great Slandered War” (dedicated to the documentary refutation of the perestroika-liberal myths about the Great Patriotic War), “For what did Stalin evict the nations?” They became extremely timely and, as Lenin described M. Gorky’s novel “Mother”, “necessary” for our society. The unique data collected in the archives by the historian-enthusiast break the fabrications of the post-Soviet borzopistyts literally in the slips. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Pyhalov has been fighting for a long time at the forefront of the information-psychological war. For more than ten years of research and writing, he can rightly be considered her honored veteran. But the laconic message in LiveJournal that in the middle of summer 48-year-old writer went to defend Lugansk as a volunteer, to be honest, made a strong impression. Without exaggeration, this is an act worthy of Byron. Therefore, our conversation with him in a remotely rear Petersburg, where the writer-fighter returned after a truce, began with a completely natural question in such a situation.
Igor BOYKOV. What made you - a man not the youngest and, moreover, not at all unknown - to take in your hands weapon?
Igor Pykhalov. The reason is simple and obvious: the war in Donbas is fair. In this case, one should strive for one’s way by force. Calling on others for war, I considered it my moral duty to take part in it myself. Moreover, physically I was quite able to do it. Therefore, as soon as the opportunity arose, I went to Lugansk and joined the ranks of the militia.
Igor BOYKOV. Why precisely in Lugansk?
Igor Pykhalov. Firstly, because the party "Other Russia", with the help of which I ended up in Novorossia, is tied, mainly, to the Lugansk People's Republic. And, secondly, I didn’t like too much the White Guard delights that were in Donetsk with Strelkov and his associates. Lugansk also looked more red.
Igor BOYKOV. That is, ideologically, is it closer to you?
Igor Pykhalov. Ideologies by and large are neither there nor there. But still the spontaneous “color” of the LC was closer for me.
Igor BOYKOV. Tell me, how did you cross the border?
Igor Pykhalov. I crossed the border quite legally, because by that time - by August 7 - Izvarino’s checkpoint was already firmly controlled by the militia. Another thing is that the path from the border to Lugansk was under threat, and after a while the Ukrainian troops cut it off. Therefore, to the capital of the LC, I was accompanied by representatives of the militia.
Igor BOYKOV. Well, well: here you are in Lugansk. So, what is next? For volunteers, there were some combat training courses, training squad? Or immediately arms to the front?
Igor Pykhalov. I joined the Zarya battalion - he was then the germ of the Armed Forces of the Lugansk Republic. There was a more or less responsible approach to those who wanted to join the ranks of the fighters. Interviews, psychological testing were conducted. After that, those volunteers who passed this selection stage were sent to non-combat units. They are engaged there in various chores and gradually get used to combat service. I was lucky to get to where the Grad volley-fire installations were charging. I hope that my work was not in vain, and our gunners used these installations sensibly. At that moment, the Ukrainian positions were just actively ironing.
Igor BOYKOV. Well, well then?
Igor Pykhalov. Then, well-established volunteers, as vacancies appeared, were sent directly to the belligerent units. In this case, of course, there were exceptions. If someone owned a deficient military profession, for example, was a driver tank, then he was taken to the current unit immediately.
Igor BOYKOV. And who did you serve directly on the front line?
Igor Pykhalov. After a week of serving the Gradov loader, I was sent to the emerging 4 rifle company and served there as a granite bomb.
Igor BOYKOV. Did you have the skills to handle a grenade launcher?
Igor Pykhalov. No, initially there were no skills, everything was mastered already in place, from scratch. Here I would like to explain this. In Russia, among those who watch the war, it is very popular to think that only professionals should go to war in the Donbass - those who have already served in the army or have experience of military operations, etc. I think this approach is fundamentally wrong. Of course, there is much more benefit from a professional in a war than from an untrained fighter. But on the other hand, in Ukraine in the post-Soviet time (as, incidentally, in our country), the system of initial military training of the youth was completely ruined. Many of the 25 – 30-year-olds who came to the militia didn’t know how to assemble anything, even a machine gun. Against this background, I, having familiarized myself with the basics of military affairs in Soviet times while studying at school and high school, looked almost like a professional. Of course, the overwhelming number of soldiers of the company did not have military qualifications, however, Soviet small arms were made so that even an unprepared person could quickly master them.
Igor BOYKOV. Who commanded the battalion "Dawn"? What was he like?
Igor Pykhalov. The battalion is commanded by Andrei Patrushev. This man is quite young, kept modestly, so that the uninitiated will not distinguish him from the ordinary soldier. By the way, there are no insignia and rank systems in the armed formations of the Lugansk Republic. Commanders just know in person.
Igor BOYKOV. How, then, is subordination observed? Instead of a rank system, there is a difference in positions, as was the case in the Red Army?
Igor Pykhalov. Yes, by positions: battalion commander, company commander, etc. Traditional military rituals - the steps, saluting - either. Although, of course, discipline is maintained. In our battalion acted “dry law”, and it was mainly respected. Those who, contrary to orders, tried to drink, were punished and severely enough. So, one fighter who, having gotten drunk so much, began to sing songs right under the windows of the headquarters, he was sent to the front line for demining.
Igor BOYKOV. He died?
Igor Pykhalov. I do not know. I never saw him again. It is possible that yes.
Igor BOYKOV. In Lugansk really badly destroyed? Television broadcast eerie footage: streets plowed up with shells, bombed houses, queues to drinking-water columns ...
Igor Pykhalov. I don’t know what exactly Russian television was showing - at the front we were in an information vacuum and we didn’t have the opportunity to watch TV or go online. I will say that I saw myself. Ukrainian troops chopped off electricity to the city shortly before my arrival, so there was really no light or water in Lugansk. All this lasted until mid-September, before our offensive, when the enemy's forces managed to be thrown off the city. Only 14-th number, on the Day of the city, was restored power supply. And in August, the streets really looked extinct, people tried not to walk on them. Transportation also practically did not work. There are indeed a lot of destructions in Lugansk, but it’s impossible to say that it was turned into ruins. The fire in residential areas of Lugansk was carried out mainly from mortars. But mines do not have great destructive power. When they hit, they destroy individual rooms in residential buildings, while the houses themselves remain standing. Stronger suffered any shopping centers and pavilions, built in the period of "Square". These constructions are non-capital, and they really scattered from the hits of the mines in a splash.
Igor BOYKOV. What fights did you directly participate in?
Igor Pykhalov. In the second half of August, our company participated in the defense of Vergunki, one of the suburbs of Lugansk. In September, we took part in the offensive. On September 3, our company was taken out of the city, and we took up positions on the front line instead of the detachment to the rear, to rest. Two days later we were thrown to the village of Rajovka: there were data that about forty Ukrainian soldiers and officers with two tanks were squeezed nearby. We did not have our own tanks, so the enemy’s tanks were destroyed by artillery. We attacked with several armored personnel carriers. What pleased me - armored personnel carriers marched under red flags, which depicted the Soviet coat of arms, and it looked symbolic to me.
Igor BOYKOV. What were these surroundings like?
Igor Pykhalov. Some broken pieces of broken parts. In general, they did not undertake any serious attempts to break through to their own. At night, as far as I know, they had three people killed by our neighbors. In the morning, a Ukrainian officer came to our position. He was completely demoralized, it seemed to him that he was immediately shot on the spot. Of course, we did nothing wrong with the prisoner. Fed and drove to the city to show the traces of crimes committed by his fellows.
Igor BOYKOV. So, it was still the soldiers of the regular army, not "pravoseki"?
Igor Pykhalov. Yes, the army team. With “pravosekami” we would not have succeeded in such a conversation. As with the Ukrainian artillerymen, since there was an order not to take them prisoner. In general, our promotion to Rayevka was so rapid that many local residents did not even know that the militia was already here. For example, one grandfather, riding a bicycle through our positions in the morning, greeted the men of our company with a cry: “Glory to Ukraine!” They spoke politely to him, explained who we were. It was clear that this is just a manifestation of everyday conformity, the desire to live in harmony with any authority.
The next day we advanced further, went to the shore of the Seversky Donets and took defensive positions at the dominant height. From there, the same famous city of Happiness was already visible, which, unfortunately, is still occupied by the troops of the junta and in which there is a large thermal power plant that once supplied electricity to many cities of the Luhansk region and Lugansk itself. A truce was announced just then. Taking up positions on the river bank, we captured two more soldiers of the Ukrainian army. Early in the morning they tried to tie up a raft from the reeds and cross over to the other side, to their own. One was twenty, another thirty. Both, by the way, were from Lviv.
Igor BOYKOV. And how, ideological were the guys or simple recruits?
Igor Pykhalov. They assured that they were simple recruits and did not do anything bad to anyone. Interestingly, they spoke Russian purely, without any accent.
Igor BOYKOV. Well, well, how is the militia fighting? What tactics does he use? After all, in fact, these are semi-partisan connections.
Igor Pykhalov. The military tactics of the militias are aimed at saving the lives of fighters. As a rule, before sending the infantry to the attack, the Ukrainian positions were treated with artillery for a very long time, the firing points were suppressed ...
Igor BOYKOV. So, the artillery and a large supply of shells from Lugansk militias were?
Igor Pykhalov. In my opinion, we even outnumbered the enemy in artillery. There were field guns, multiple rocket launchers, and mortars.
Igor BOYKOV. Can you say something about the nature of their appearance?
Igor Pykhalov. I will refrain. Let me just say that the local militia called it all “Uncle Vova sms.” Who is this uncle Vova, I do not know (smiles). Perhaps this is the name of a Ukrainian ensign who sells all this from army warehouses.
Igor BOYKOV. Who were your colleagues? What is the social composition of militia fighters, their motivation?
Igor Pykhalov. Again, competently I can only judge by my unit. And in it the overwhelming majority of the fighters were local residents, who, as in the song, “enemies burned their own hut”. Moreover, burned in the most direct, literal sense. Having lost their homes, loved ones, they went to fight against the Ukrainian army. In our part of the volunteers from Russia, there were ten percent, the remaining ninety - local: Luhansk residents and residents of the area. It is difficult to say something definite about the ideological preferences of personnel. There were Orthodox, church-worshipers, but there were a few of them, about a dozen. The rest did not have any coherent ideology. Some wore crosses, many were sympathetic to our Soviet period. stories, although, of course, they were not ideological communists. Even as volunteers from Russia in the Zarya battalion members of the “Other Russia” fought, the National Bolsheviks, but they did not serve in my company. If we talk about the age of the fighters, then it should be noted that there were few young under 25 years, and younger than 20, so there are very few. The main backbone of the unit is for those around 30, although there were also those who were significantly older. Most of them were people without higher education who were engaged in manual labor before the war. Among other met two miners.
Igor BOYKOV. How was the change of power in Donetsk and Lugansk perceived in the trenches in mid-August?
Igor Pykhalov. Donetsk was far away from us, and what was happening in it was practically not discussed at all. As for the removal of Bolotov, the commanders of the soldiers said: “Bolotov was removed, the Zarya battalion takes power into its own hands”. In part, this was true, since Plotnitsky, who had come to the place of Bolotov, previously held the post of Minister of Defense, that is, it can be said that he came from an army structure. On the background of what is happening, most were not aware of anything.
Igor BOYKOV. Some public figures and publicists in Russia at that moment raised a wave of panic: it’s all, this is the surrender of the Kremlin, the New Russia is over.
Igor Pykhalov. There was no panic among us. The fact is that the militia of the Lugansk Republic is, in fact, a sort of feudal army. The commanders of the units resemble medieval princes with their retinues, and the “warriors”, in the first place, are guided by them, and not nominally the first persons in Lugansk.
Igor BOYKOV. This is not the best feature for your now former fellow soldiers.
Igor Pykhalov. I do not want to offend anyone, worthy people gathered in the detachments. But nevertheless it is.
Igor BOYKOV. What is feudalism? "Druzhina" feeds from occupied territory?
Igor Pykhalov. Not. The fact that the commander-prince himself recruits detachment-squad and gives her a weapon. Vigilantes can move from one less fortunate prince to the military, to another, more fortunate one. The weapons received directly from the prince are handed over when they leave, but what they have brought with them is carried away with them. In this case, one prince can, in fact, serve as a vassal to another, while maintaining a certain degree of freedom.
Igor BOYKOV. You paint a very dark picture. After all, this is a complete archaization of society, affecting, among other things, the military sphere.
Igor Pykhalov. I repeat: what is - that is. This results in many of the shortcomings of the militia. So, it does not have a system for recruiting mass recruits and training them, as is customary in a regular regular army. It is very sensitive to losses. In the Lugansk republic there was not even a mobilization. Of course, with the available resources and with proper organization of the case, the military outcome could be more favorable for Novorossia, but that is - that is.
Igor BOYKOV. The top management of LC somehow fought with a similar situation?
Igor Pykhalov. In principle, it could not fight, because there is no modern analogue of the Bolshevik party in it. Analog is not even in the sense of ideology, but in the sense of organization. Then it would be possible to build field commanders on the basis of a common idea, to include them in the general structure. Otherwise, such feudal freemen will not get rid of. Unless only one of the feudal lords will increase so much that he podomnet the rest.
Igor BOYKOV. What can you say about the enemy? About his fighting qualities?
Igor Pykhalov. I got the impression that they are very low. The Ukrainian army can only successfully terrorize civilians. Shellings of cities and towns were carried out regularly by her due to impunity. If we responded to each Ukrainian shelling of our positions, then there was nothing to answer residential quarters. By the time of my arrival in Lugansk Aviation the enemy was already “thinned out” significantly; I hadn’t seen any military aircraft for a month and a half, not counting the unarmed reconnaissance aircraft. In artillery, as I said, we excelled them. In armored vehicles, the advantage was on that side, but not overwhelming. Of course, we have to reckon with this, since the Ukrainian military could, using tanks, somewhere unexpectedly break through our defenses. The Ukrainian infantry is weakly motivated, afraid to engage in close combat. On the other hand, they are also afraid of captivity, since the junta's brainwashing machine works. It is suggested to the soldiers that many Chechen fighters are fighting on the side of the militia, who will immediately kill them brutally.
Igor BOYKOV. Have you ever met Caucasians in the ranks of the militia?
Igor Pykhalov. No, I have not, although this does not mean that they are not there. Perhaps they are fighting in other divisions. But met the Serbs. They also served in Zarya.
Igor BOYKOV. Have you had big losses during the fights?
Igor Pykhalov. No, there were no dead in our company during my service. However, after each armed clash on the front line, two or three wounded men happened. Fortunately, all the injuries were light, in limbs, or contusion. The most difficult thing was that one of the militiamen had his finger blown off. Plus, of course, the "saving" tactics of the commanders also had an effect.
Igor BOYKOV. What can you say about the scale of the losses of the enemy? Are they really as big as they say in the media? Are we talking about the 10-15 thousands of dead and wounded?
Igor Pykhalov. Feels like they are much bigger than ours. This was also confirmed by the prisoners. Before the onset of the position of the troops, the junta was hollowed and hollowed out with shells. For example, the same Lugansk airport could be taken faster, but a frontal assault would mean a simple exchange of deaths. Only a regular army with no recruiting problems could go for it.
Igor BOYKOV. So, by what means did the militia units do a lot of damage to the enemy? After all, the ratio on armored vehicles was in favor of the enemy, close combat, as I understood from your words, both sides avoided ...
Igor Pykhalov. Basically, at the expense of artillery - the god of war. It worked better and better with us than with the Ukrainian troops. Plus action reconnaissance and sabotage groups. But I did not participate in them, there really were people who were trained.
Igor BOYKOV. How do you evaluate the Minsk Agreement? Do you think they will put an end to the war, or is it just an ellipsis, a temporary pause before new fights?
Igor Pykhalov. The first reaction in the trenches - of course, annoyance. There was a feeling that we were stopped, they did not allow us to develop success. Although if you talk sensibly, then on our site we have already achieved the greatest possible success. We reached the Seversky Donets, entrenched, but there was no longer any force to force it and advance further. I don’t try to judge the situation near Donetsk, because I don’t have reliable information. Perhaps there the situation was different.
If we talk about the future, I really would not want the border between the DPR, the LPR and Ukraine to pass along the current front line. In this case, it will not be a question of something like a full-fledged Novorossia - even the majority of the republics will remain under enemy occupation under such conditions. This, in my opinion, is simply unacceptable. Therefore, I hope that the fighting will continue.
However, there is the next point. It is clear that Russia will not directly participate in the war - Putin made it clear. The chosen tactics, shall we say, indirect participation. In principle, the militia can fight itself, but for this it is necessary to build, finally, a clear power structure in the republics, to carry out a full mobilization. In general, full-fledged states should emerge. And this, unfortunately, not yet.
Igor BOYKOV. On November 2 elections are scheduled there. There will be legitimate authorities elected by the people.
Igor Pykhalov. It is not necessary to attach great importance to this process and to fall into electoral idiocy. Power is not a game of candy wrappers. Power is an apparatus of violence. And she must act like this apparatus.
Igor BOYKOV. But violence must be legitimized. Otherwise it is just arbitrariness.
Igor Pykhalov. You can legitimize it by introducing dictatorship. The disadvantage of New Russia is not that they did not hold elections, but that they do not have a clear and attractive ideology for the masses. Everything is very amorphous. Yes, people want to be with Russia, they want to remain Russian, but something else is needed for this.
Igor BOYKOV. By the way, on the national question. Do you meet any prominent Ukrainians or people who position themselves as such in the ranks of the militia?
Igor Pykhalov. I don’t know that someone had written in passports there, but on sensations all this is the most ordinary Russian people for whom Russian is their native language. Among older people there were two Ukrainians who knew their own language (although, most likely it was not a literary Ukrainian, but a surzhik) who used it in everyday communication. But they were not enemies of Russia and fought on our side. I would also like to add that, in my opinion, the war in Ukraine is not an inter-ethnic conflict. This is a civil war within the Russian world between those who desire its independent development and those who want to become lackeys of the West. The same residents of Lviv, as it turned out, perfectly speak Russian. In the future, if success is still developed, it is necessary to debander all of Ukraine.
Igor BOYKOV. But after all, it was not possible at the time to complete even Stalin.
Igor Pykhalov. Stalin was too soft. After the victory of the active supporters of the junta, the broadest and most severe repressions should be applied. I emphasize that this is not about the genocide of the population of the western regions, but about repression against those who joined the punitive units or burned people in the Odessa House of Trade Unions. Of course, the direct inclusion of Galicia into Russia at the moment cannot be discussed. For the first time, the protectorate will fit. Westerners should understand that they need to earn the right to live in Russia and be considered its full citizens.
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