‘I will celebrate Christmas regardless of the situation’

A Ukrainian national living in Ballyjamesduff, who travelled back to his home country to fight the Russian invasion alongside his fellow countrymen, feels they are “fighting for the whole of Europe”.

Igor Matviiko, who has lived in the Ballyjamesduff for more than 15 years, travelled back to Ukraine last March to join the war effort.

It is over 300 days since the invasion first began on February 24, with dozens of missile attacks across Ukraine. However Russian forces have seriously struggled, according to reports, and their incursion has been significantly repelled with Kharkiv Oblast in the north-east, the city of Kherson, and lands west of the Dnipro recently liberated.

Most military observers expect the frontlines to remain largely static for a few freezing months, as the harshness of the Ukrainian winter sets in.

Speaking to The Anglo-Celt via instant messenger, and sometimes using Google Translate to assist, Igor informs that he is now currently in Kharkiv, a city that bore the brunt of much of the fighting in the early stages of the war, and where he is currently “resting” alongside his regiment “after heavy battles”. At the conflict’s height what remained of Kharkiv’s once 1.5 million population were left sheltering beneath shattered streets, in makeshift bunkers, or forced to hide in buildings’ ruins.

It is, Igor replies, “very cold in Ukraine now”, with daily temperatures drifting between minus 10 and minus 12 degrees. The plight of those living in the country is made worse by the effects of Russian prolonged bombardments. Up to 40% of Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed by airstrikes, depriving millions, including the fighters, of heating, water, and electricity.

Ukraine’s second largest city remains under attack. A photo posted online by retired US Army major John Spencer showing two police officers looking at a fragment pile of Russian rockets that hit Kharkiv has gone viral on social media.

When Igor first arrived to Ukraine from Ireland, he was assigned to the Azov battalion, a volunteer militia founded in 2014 to fight Russian separatist forces in the Donbas War.

He has since switched to the Kraken battalion, one of the more high-profile volunteer units that have been involved in the successful liberation of several occupied villages.

Igor tells the Celt he participated in “heavy battles” for both Kharkiv and its surrounds. He was in an operation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in south-eastern Ukraine, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, which was seized by Russian forces in March, but has been off the grid since September amid relentless shelling of the area.

He participated too in the liberation of Kherson, and sadly reports to have “lost many friends” in battles. He once met the late Rory Mason (23), an Iish native from Dunboyne, who was killed fighting for Ukraine’s International Legion near the Russian border.

“These were young people but very brave.”

Igor himself was “wounded”, suffering “shell-shock”.

“Everything is fine, we will live. I was wounded near Kharkov, shells fell nearby, I was severely shell-shocked. I was in the hospital,” he says.

“We receive news from our commanders, and we understand the situation. Now we are driving the enemy to Russian territory and have liberated a lot of territory, they have a lot of dead and wounded.”

The father and grandfather, who carries with him a Castlerahan GFC hat he brought from home and other mementos including an Irish flag, is asked how his family in Ireland feel that he is still in Ukraine fighting?

For the first time Igor will be away from family for Christmas “somewhere in the forests and trenches”.

His mother continues to live in the city of Berdyansk, a port city in south-eastern Ukraine, which has remained under Russian occupation for the past nine months.

“I will celebrate Christmas regardless of the situation. I will call and congratulate my family and grandchildren. I miss them.”

He states that “life in war is very different”.

“You start thinking about how to survive and save the lives of your friends, there is nothing more expensive than human life. Money and comfort fade into the background.”

Igor though states that his family continues to support him, “all the time”, and he sends “thanks to friends from Ireland and Ukrainians from my work”.

Igor adds that he and his fellow countrymen are emboldened by the shared belief their actions are in “protection for our Ukrainian people”.

“Thank you very much for your help and support to all the Irish people and I want to say that we are fighting for the whole of Europe.”

When the question of whether he believes there is an end to the war is in sight, the Liffey Meats worker’s response is simple: “We are ready to fight until victory, but politicians will decide everything.”