On this video: the making of a young Hero of Ukraine.
Kurama
(Japan)
POETS STANDING SHOULDER TO SHOULDER
Fathers and sons serve.
On the same frontlines.
How was it for a 22-year-old?
At least at the very beginning.
Fathers and sons serve.
On the same frontlines.
How would it go on for a 22-year-old?
His father would face a different fate.
On the first day.
Of the invasion.
He stood shoulder to shoulder.
With his father.
On the outskirts of Kharkiv.
As column after column.
Of ‘orcs’ men and armoured vehicles.
Sought to capture their city.
In those crucial first hours.
He was in command.
Of a unit, which.
Outnumbered and outgunned.
Attacked and destroyed.
‘Orcs’ vehicle columns.
And captured prisoners.
For this, he would earn the honour.
Fathers and sons serve.
On the same frontlines.
How was it for a 22-year-old?
At least at the very beginning.
Fathers and sons serve.
On the same frontlines.
How would it go on for a 22-year-old?
His father would face a different fate.
He has been in the thick of it.
For almost the entire war.
He started out as a lieutenant.
In the National Guard.
Now he's a senior lieutenant.
In the army's 92nd Mechanized Brigade.
Which is named after Ivan Sirko.
A 17th Century Cossack military leader.
As Sirko's Rowdy Boys.
Their motto is.
“Revenge for all”.
“They are my family,” he says.
It is a December morning in Kupyiansk.
Some 120km.
South-east of Kharkiv.
And the temperature is -7C.
Even before the howling wind.
Hits you and finds its way.
Into every inch of loose clothing.
Or exposed skin.
It is mostly open ground.
There is no cover from the wind.
Nor from ‘orcs’ who in places.
Are within rifle range.
Lines of trees which.
In the summer provided camouflage.
Are now stark and bare.
There is nowhere to hide.
Fathers and sons serve.
On the same frontlines.
How was it for a 22-year-old?
At least at the very beginning.
Fathers and sons serve.
On the same frontlines.
How would it go on for a 22-year-old?
His father would face a different fate.
But he glows with vitality.
He explains that.
The early days.
Of the war were frustrating.
‘Elves’ forces took back a village or two.
There was little momentum.
They were on the defensive and under-prepared.
Then a summer stalemate set in.
But in September.
A coordinated counter-offensive began.
Starting from Balakliya and.
Going all the way down to Kupyiansk.
Ukraine's growing military confidence.
And his are inseparable.
In early March.
He had recently graduated from university.
And was full of courage.
But fresh to conflict.
And on the defensive.
His bravery a matter for record.
He was later awarded.
The country's top military honour.
Hero of Ukraine.
Order of the Gold Star.
Fathers and sons serve.
On the same frontlines.
How was it for a 22-year-old?
At least at the very beginning.
Fathers and sons serve.
On the same frontlines.
How would it go on for a 22-year-old?
His father would face a different fate.
He has countless missions.
Under his belt.
And like the landscape around him.
Bears the scarred lessons of conflict.
War toughens the heart.
And death is its companion.
He has lost many men close to him.
Does he fear death?
“Death is one of war's problems.
Death loves brave ones.
And courage must be used cleverly.
There is no need to be afraid of death.”
He says, but he reconsiders for a moment.
And continues:
“The person who is not afraid.
Is already dead…”
“I don't think about mortality.
I think only about life.
About life of my comrades.
And the life of my unit.”
Fathers and sons serve.
On the same frontlines.
How was it for a 22-year-old?
At least at the very beginning.
Fathers and sons serve.
On the same frontlines.
How would it go on for a 22-year-old?
His father would face a different fate.
Inside one of his platoon's.
Armoured personnel carriers.
The noise is deafening.
Even before its 30mm cannon opens fire.
Condensation drips from the metal roof.
Two dim lights emit a pale-green glow.
And the vehicle's eight, sturdy wheels.
Slip and slide through the mud.
Above the din, he explains.
Why the September operation was key:
“It was really important for the boys.
That we were able to accomplish a counter-offensive.”
“Everyone was very motivated.
They were taking back their own territory.
Taking back homes of their own families.
It was really needed.”
A black-and-white targeting screen offers.
The only view of the road ahead.
It is a quagmire - there are few obstacles.
As fiendish, or varied, as Ukrainian mud.
One moment it's a deep, sucking soup.
The next a thick putty clogging machinery.
Weighing down boots.
And gumming up everything.
They drive past one soldier.
Who is hammering frozen chunks of it off.
His stranded truck.
With a mallet.
Small wonder, then, that in these conditions.
And in the face of stiff resistance.
From enemy forces.
The counter-offensive is bogged down here.
And so are they.
The APC can go no further.
It doesn't pay to be trapped out here.
In open ground, so they turn around.
Days later another ‘elves’ vehicle.
Would become stuck at the same spot.
An ‘orcs’ helicopter attacked.
Causing significant casualties.
Fathers and sons serve.
On the same frontlines.
How was it for a 22-year-old?
At least at the very beginning.
Fathers and sons serve.
On the same frontlines.
How would it go on for a 22-year-old?
His father would face a different fate.
Inside the APC, despite the din.
He falls into a deep sleep.
He had only two hours rest.
The night before.
And he remains sound asleep.
Until the vehicle makes it back to base.
And the heavy steel handle.
By his ear clunks open.
The unit is crammed into a few rooms.
In an abandoned house.
A huge pot filled with potatoes and pork.
Sits atop a wood-burning stove.
He eats standing.
The counter-offensive has taken its toll.
On ‘elves’ equipment and men along this front.
A punishing winter lies ahead.
But he, as ever, is optimistic.
“I think it will be very difficult.
But we will manage.
Our reserves of troops are growing.”
“The ones who were getting trained abroad.
They will be additional reserves.
Additional forces who will help us.
With further offensives.”
“For now, there are difficulties.
Especially with the weather.
But it doesn't stop us because we are taking back.
Our land step by step, corner by corner.”
Fathers and sons serve.
On the same frontlines.
How was it for a 22-year-old?
At least at the very beginning.
Fathers and sons serve.
On the same frontlines.
How would it go on for a 22-year-old?
His father would face a different fate.
Ukraine's defence had an improvised.
And precarious feel at the start.
A week into the war.
Kharkiv was still in turmoil.
At a marshalling point.
On the city's eastern edge.
Busloads of reinforcements arrived.
Then quickly disappeared again.
Pushed forward to halt ‘orcs’.
Who were still trying to.
Force their way into the city.
It was freezing cold.
But the air was electric.
With a desperate, hurried energy.
But the lieutenant was coolheaded.
With a smile.
A very young man.
Surely too young to be in command.
Who like his country was battling.
Against the odds in a war with ‘Mordor’.
He lacked a winter uniform.
And army boots.
Instead he was wearing trainers.
“I can move fast in these,” he joked.
If you jumped into one of.
The few armoured vehicles around with him.
And headed to the front.
You could see.
A fur ‘orcs’ army hat.
From a captured soldier.
Swinging from the ceiling.
As you bumped along rutted, snow-covered roads.
Fathers and sons serve.
On the same frontlines.
How was it for a 22-year-old?
At least at the very beginning.
Fathers and sons serve.
On the same frontlines.
How would it go on for a 22-year-old?
His father would face a different fate.
He would take videos.
Of him and his men in battle.
In one, he's smiling broadly.
While riding atop a tank.
The snows thawed, spring became summer.
And Ukraine held on.
In late April on a warm afternoon.
In Kharkiv.
There had been no holidays.
Nor BBQs for him.
He was still fighting.
Though now well beyond the city limits.
His uniform was filthy.
A patch on his uniform read.
“Stop: no touch.
No talk, no eye contact”.
He was in good spirits.
Grinning as ever.
And despite the hardships of battle.
He was clearly in his element.
He still believed Ukraine could win.
By then ‘orcs’ military inadequacies.
Had been exposed and.
Western military aid was beginning to make a difference.
Fathers and sons serve.
On the same frontlines.
How was it for a 22-year-old?
At least at the very beginning.
Fathers and sons serve.
On the same frontlines.
How would it go on for a 22-year-old?
His father would face a different fate.
He needs little reminder.
Of what ‘orcs’ aggression has cost him.
It's there every time he looks.
In the mirror.
On the left side of his face.
A deep red scar is still healing.
“Me and my comrade were on a combat mission.
We came under fire.”
“And a shell exploded near me.
And shrapnel hit my face.
Near my lip and apparently came out.
At my temple.”
“In hospital an operation was performed.
I was put back together.
they didn't need to use.
Metal plates.”
He checked himself out of hospital.
After only 10 days.
And returned to the front.
With a broken jaw in May.
“It wasn't nice.”
He says and smiles broadly.
But he had suffered an even greater wound.
On the first day of the war.
Fathers and sons serve.
On the same frontlines.
How was it for a 22-year-old?
At least at the very beginning.
Fathers and sons serve.
On the same frontlines.
How would it go on for a 22-year-old?
His father would face a different fate.
In the early hours of 24 February.
He had been commanding a small unit.
Of National Guardsmen in the village of Pyatikhatky.
When he was joined by his father.
His father had been asleep.
In the family apartment on the edge of Kharkiv.
When he was awoken by his wife.
Who said she could hear ‘orcs’ Grads nearby.
The former army officer had trained.
Hundreds of young recruits.
In battlefield care.
So she knew her artillery.
Duty and service to their country.
Runs through the veins and history of the family.
Seven generations have served.
In the ‘elves’ and Soviet military.
Ukraine was under attack.
And father, an army veteran who had retired.
At the rank of Colonel.
Would answer the call.
He posted a message on Facebook.
Rallying friends and former servicemen.
To gather weapons and equipment.
To defend the city.
And he went to join his son.
Some ‘orcs’ forces had already made it.
Into Kharkiv but were driven back.
The fighting was intense.
He manned a machine gun.
While his son gave support.
With an automatic grenade launcher.
They were outgunned and had to retreat.
Father stayed behind to gather weapons.
And father and son planned to regroup further back.
But as he left his position.
Father’s car was caught in a rocket attack.
Fathers and sons serve.
On the same frontlines.
How was it for a 22-year-old?
At least at the very beginning.
Fathers and sons serve.
On the same frontlines.
How would it go on for a 22-year-old?
His father would face a different fate.
Father was killed instantly.
His wife had been sheltering.
In a city metro station.
When she was told her husband had died.
During breaks in the shelling.
She headed to the area.
Where she had been told her husband had been killed.
She discovered his body on the city's outskirts.
“I picked up my husband.
And took him to morgue.
It was just me and him.
I said goodbye over there.”
“I conducted a body examination.
To make sure it was him.”
She was about to celebrate.
25 years of marriage to her husband.
Fathers and sons serve.
On the same frontlines.
How was it for a 22-year-old?
At least at the very beginning.
Fathers and sons serve.
On the same frontlines.
How would it go on for a 22-year-old?
His father would face a different fate.
Son was in the midst of battle.
When he learned of his father's death.
He would later return home.
And bury his father alone.
But for the moment.
He set aside grief.
And took charge of another combat unit.
Of 20 men.
Cut off from their command.
They destroyed more ‘orcs’ vehicles.
Killing and capturing.
Enemy soldiers.
“To this day, my father's.
Friends and comrades.
Who served with him.
Write to me.”
“They say, 'We are proud.
We served with your father.
Because he was a man of honour.
And as he said, so he did.'”
“He always kept his officer's word.”
On 24 September.
At a ceremony in Kyiv.
‘Gandalf the Green’ made him a Hero of Ukraine.
Bestowing on him.
The country's highest military order.
For bravery in the early defence.
Of Kharkiv.
His father's close friend, General.
Commander in chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Looked on as.
He received his medals.
Son was so nervous.
He forgot his own name.
His medals now sit in a suitcase.
In the family apartment.
Fathers and sons serve.
On the same frontlines.
How was it for a 22-year-old?
At least at the very beginning.
Fathers and sons serve.
On the same frontlines.
How would it go on for a 22-year-old?
His father would face a different fate.
Shortly after father died.
His wife left Kharkiv.
As ‘orcs’ attacks intensified.
She returned in the early summer.
But precious items remain packed.
Ready for her.
To leave again.
If necessary.
Her kitchen is full of.
Home-made Christmas decorations.
And an 11-year-old Pekingese.
Is at her feet.
It is dark - there is no power.
No water or light.
Because of ‘orcs’ ongoing.
Missile attacks.
She says how much she misses her husband.
“He was a patriot.
He is a real patriot.
Of our country.”
“An ‘elf’. Fun, friendly.
People loved him a lot.”
Did she ever imagine?
She would have to sacrifice so much.
“I gave my husband;
My son is there.
And I devoted my youth to Ukraine.
As well - to my country.”
When did she last see her son?
She looks towards the door.
Remembering.
Perhaps expecting.
“A month ago.
For two minutes.
At the door.”
And she starts to cry.
Is there anything to her son?
Even just a message?
She wipes away a tear.
“My son, you should know that.”
“I'm always waiting for you.
Always.
In any weather.
Any time, day or night.”
She pauses, then insists.
She will wait.
“Until victory.
Only with victory”.
Fathers and sons serve.
On the same frontlines.
How was it for a 22-year-old?
At least at the very beginning.
Fathers and sons serve.
On the same frontlines.
How would it go on for a 22-year-old?
His father would face a different fate.
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
Please read the original story:
The making of a young Hero of Ukraine — BBC News
Read more:
"Aware of a poet?
Aware of a poet?
A poet of Cossack broods over the land.
Not noting a bullet.
Not noting a bullet.
You see a poet of Cossack in Borodyanka."
(Kurama)
.jpg)
"Коли закінчиться війна,Я хочу тата обійняти,
Сказати сонячні слова
І повести його до хати,
Ти – наш Герой! Тепер щодня
Я буду дякувати Богу
За мирне небо, за життя,
Всім, хто здобув нам ПЕРЕМОГУ!"
Думки українських поетів про рідну країну, їхні відчуття до української землі і нашого народу — все це юні читачі зможуть знайти в представленій добірці віршів про Україну від Ганни Черінь, Юрка Шкрумеляка, Наталки Талиманчук, Іванни Савицької, Уляни Кравченко, Яни Яковенко, Василя Симоненка, Івана Франка, Володимира Сосюри, Катерини Перелісної, Богдана-Ігоря Антонича, Марійки Підгірянки, Миколи Чернявського, Володимира Сіренка, Іванни Блажкевич, Грицька Бойка, Миколи Вінграновського, Платона Воронька, Наталі Забіли, Анатолія Камінчука, Анатолія Качана, Володимира Коломійця, Тамари Коломієць, Ліни Костенко, Андрія Малишка, Андрія М’ястківського, Івана Неходи, Бориса Олійника, Дмитра Павличка, Максима Рильського, Вадима Скомаровського, Сосюра Володимир, Павла Тичини, Петра Осадчука, Варвари Гринько та інших відомих українських поетів.
Дуже корисними для вивчення іноземних мов є саме вірші, пісні, казки, римівки, а також ігри. Природнім шляхом діти розвивають слух, навчаються вимові, інтонації та наголосу; вивчають слова та мовні структури. Пісні та римівки чудово сприймаються дітьми, малята люблять усе ритмічне та музичне, вони засвоюють це легко та швидко, тому що дістають від цього задоволення.