Yuri Protsenko, deputy commander of the Vostok battalion, is the man who became the legend of the battle for Novorossia. At one time he passed the Afghan war, hence the call sign - “Dushman”. He was deputy chairman of the Afghan Society of Veterans in the city of Druzhkovka. For that war, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and the Medal "For Courage". He did not know then that he would have to fight again - this time not for international duty, but for his homeland, for his home.
"Dushman" was an active participant in the fighting, which, undoubtedly, is already forever inscribed in history protection of Donbass. This is the first uprising in Slavyansk, and an epic on Saur-grave, and the liberation of the village of Krasny Partizan, which made it possible to open the road between Donetsk and Gorlovka. And recently he opened a patriotic camp for children in Donetsk.
There are many publications on the Internet from “dill”, where Dushman is allegedly accused of shooting four prisoners. In fact, as reported by the participants of that battle in the village of Krasny Partizan, after the battle, he collected four bodies of dead ukroarmiya soldiers and handed them over to the Ukrainian side without any conditions. They did not appreciate the gesture of goodwill and began to write, as if he himself had shot them.
Yuri Alexandrovich agreed to talk about himself and about the war, while being modestly silent about his awards, but they were forced to mention the notorious Peacemaker website - no wonder Dushman has long been on the shooting list of those who came to this land with the US weapons and trying to do the impossible: to put the Donbass on its knees.
- Hello, Yuri Alexandrovich. Tell us a little about yourself, how you are fighting here.
- I am a professional soldier. In the 1993 year, when I had a question about the oath of allegiance to Ukraine, I refused to do it. I was not the only one who refused; many officers did not change their oath. After that, I was dismissed from the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He went to the national economy, worked a bit in the police, was the head of the state farm security.
- How did you meet the 2014 events of the year?
Back in 2013, when the events around “Maidan” were in full swing, I created the “Shield” division to protect public order and protect the city. At the same time, the chairman of the Union of Afghan Veterans of the city of Konstantinovka Sergey, who also has the call sign "Dushman", formed the Salang unit for the protection of public order in his city. We were patrolling with the police.
7 April 2014, when the events started in Donetsk, we arrived there and took the SBU building by storm. Found a weapon there. We stayed there for two days, then some of the people went over to protect the RSA building, and I took my group home to Druzhkovka.
April 11 called me from Slavyansk, they said that my group is needed there. I and my people arrived in Slavyansk, to the church of the Virgin Mary. Together with another group, we took the city department, disarmed the guards. Since that time, and began my military epic.
When we left the city department, we were sent to the Kharkov direction, to the area of the Red Bridge. This road goes from Barvenkovo, Kharkiv region towards Konstantinovka and Slavyansk. We blocked this route, controlled that there was no penetration into the city of the "Right Sector" and the battalions of the Ukrainian National Guard.
Our first fight happened on April 20, on Easter. Near 22, the militants of the Right Sector tried to drive to Slavyansk in five jeeps during this holy holiday. They had the task to sow panic. They were armed with sniper rifles, machine guns, they had explosives.
The first to take the fight guys Slavyansk militia, who stood on the roadblock. Three of them died, two were injured. Then a group of my guys drove up to help. They managed to burn two cars of the attackers. Four militants of the “Right Sector” were killed, several others were wounded. As a result, they were forced to retire to the Barvenkovo area.
I remember the second fight. We tried to arrange reconnaissance in the Rybkhoz area. Then we retreated, because we were the whole 20 man against the whole battalion - the first reserve battalion of the National Guard. The forces are clearly unequal. Then there were other minor skirmishes.
On May 16 I was captured by the Ukrainian army, and on May 19 was exchanged for Lieutenant Colonel Lebed, commander of the troops of the Ministry of the Interior of the South-East. After the exchange I was brought to Donetsk. Many thanks to Colonel Khodakovsky, the former commander of the Alfa Donetsk. He headed the battalion "Vostok" (which later became a brigade), and before that - "The Patriotic Forces of Donbass", now - Secretary of the DPR Security Council. After captivity, I had four broken ribs, all legs bruised. Recovered ...
May 26 commander asked me to go to the airport as an instructor, to teach people how to fire a grenade launcher. I went with my group. It seems, did not expect anything bad - it was calm, quiet. But somewhere around 12 hours, six Mi-24 helicopters and two Mi-8 helicopters appeared over the airport. Airborne assault forces landed from Mi-8 helicopters, and Mi-24 began to "process" the airport. Then the helicopters flew off, and the Su-24 assault bombers began to operate, hit. After them, the "turntables" once again worked. Then snipers entered the battle from their side. Against us, a group of 100 people, a whole regiment of Kirovograd special forces came forward. Tugato was.
Towards evening it was decided to take out from there the remaining people who were at the airport, one might say, in complete surroundings. Burst out of the environment. I had broken ribs, and I had to haul ammunition. Sore side, painkiller did not help. Those who went on foot came out without a loss. And the wounded soldiers who traveled by cars ... It is known what became of them ... The cars were shot.
The next day I met with the commander and said that I needed a couple of weeks to recover, otherwise I would just be a burden. He went home to Druzhkovka. Then gathered there a new platoon.
15 June I arrived at the 4-th base. On the same day, he took command of the joint company, and we left for Dmitrovka. They stood between Marinka and Dmitrovka, kept the corridor there, did not allow the Ukrainian army to close. This was necessary to enable buses to pull out refugees - women, children.
Three days later they took me off. I received an order to take Saur-grave. From June 21 to August 2, my unit — first a joint company, then a battalion formed on the basis of a company — fought for Saur Grave.
Then we were transferred to the Sand. There was an attempt to tank the enemy breakthrough. Our reconnaissance group stopped the first tank in the area of the western bus station in Donetsk. This tank was hit. Two more - destroyed in the Sand.
We had little strength - only 40 people. But we have entrenched there and to this day we keep the defense.
After the end of the battle in Peski, a breakthrough began at Yasinovataya. Our guys liberated this city and took trophies there, including the brand new Ukrainian BTR-4. I personally did not participate in the Yasinovatskaya operation - after my Sand the right clavicle was slaughtered.
There, in Yasinovataya, our fighters were confronted by the special unit "Jaguar" - the elite Ukrainian special forces. This - Vinnitsa unit, the strongest among the internal troops of Ukraine. They have on the chevrons - the image of a jaguar. We beat them out of Yasinovataya, occupied the defense. For three weeks, the enemies tried to retake the city. We fought off their attacks with the help of small arms, we also had mortars. Then the assault stopped - they calmed down, they realized that it was useless. On their part, attempts began to break through in the areas of Sand and Avdiivka. But there already stood "East", firmly entrenched. We still stand on these lines with the mood: "Not one step back, victory for us."
Then we received an order to release Yasinovka. She was taken without a fight. There were two reconnaissance groups of the Ukrainian army, they slowly departed, did not get involved in a battle with us.
And a week later we received an order to break through Gorlovka’s entourage, to unblock the road between this city and Donetsk. Two days completed this task. To Gorlovka a corridor was broken through. There was one serious skirmish, in the course of which we captured three Ukrainian infantry fighting vehicles, an anti-aircraft gun, and small arms. Among us were three wounded, fortunately, these were light wounds. The boys returned a week later.
In winter, 2015, we received an order to break through the corridor Donetsk - Gorlovka - Lugansk. The task is also completed. In that battle, four were killed and 10 soldiers of the Ukrainian army were captured. Captured weapons, ammunition. Keep the lines.
- Thank. At present, as is known, there is some respite in connection with the Minsk agreements. It is known that your struggle is not limited to military actions, that you help children ...
- Yes, we have now opened a camp for the children of the militia. We also create sports clubs for children. 85 kids are doing there. Our team allocated funds for this. Because children still need to rest and develop. It's one thing to hang around the streets, and quite another when the guys are organized, when, as before, the pioneer fire burns, when various events are held. Our camp is located in the middle of beautiful nature, the pond was cleaned, sand was delivered there - the beach turned out.
- Does the opposite party comply with the Minsk agreements?
- Despite the Minsk agreements, every day we have from one to three “three hundredths”, there are also “two hundredths”. From the side of the enemy - constant shelling. There has not been a single day when we were not fired from mortars, large-caliber machine guns. In general, the Minsk agreements are one-sided. We answer only if they are beating very hard, especially when not by us, but by the peaceful population.
- How do you see the future of the case for which you are fighting?
- Initially, we advocated that the Donbass was part of Ukraine, but with expanded powers. And when so much blood was shed, when so many factories and everything else was destroyed, we see that this power is unacceptable for the people. We already see ourselves as an independent republic, and it is unlikely that anyone will agree to become part of Ukraine. Even if we are part of Russia, let us be an unrecognized republic, like Transnistria, but we don’t want to go back to Ukraine.
- Where do you get weapons?
- Many mortars were taken by us in the area of Ilovaysk. The guys from the Luhansk region brought a little bit from the Izvarainsky boiler. Debaltsevsky boiler gave us a little technology and artillery. So, they got hold of it. Now we have a full-blooded unit. It can keep the defense and, if possible, even advance.
- Do you wait for the end of the Minsk agreements?
- We understand that it is necessary to adhere to the agreements, there is also respect for Russia, so we try not to wage active hostilities. But my home is in a temporarily occupied territory. Most of the guys in my unit are from Krasnoarmeysk, Kramatorsk, Znamenka, Konstantinovka - from occupied cities .... Everyone rushes home.
(Especially for the "Military Review")