Hero of Our Time
Andriy Bukin – Warrior, Soldier, Volunteer, Activist: “We Are Destined to Win!”
Andriy Bukin, known by the pseudonym “Baton,” has been a part of my life for nearly 20 years. I have known him in all these roles: a volunteer, an activist, a soldier, and a warrior. He is also a creative and artistic public figure who philosophically reflects on our lives and present times, a reliable comrade, and a friend. In Sumy, Andriy is often referred to as the city’s main volunteer. His efforts have been recognized with numerous acknowledgments from local authorities, the military, international humanitarian organizations, and grateful citizens.
I am certain that his life journey is already worthy of a book! However, that is for the future. For now, I offer a few moments of conversation with Andriy, a few episodes from his biography, stories from his life, and his thoughts on events and people, on struggle and war, and the fate of our country.
Recently, before this intense phase of the war—though the war for Andriy, with the front lines, gunfire, shelling, trenches, defense, and attacks, began right after 2014—we didn’t get to communicate often. However, sometimes we managed to meet at community councils or hearings and talk, and if we were lucky, we might meet in the sauna and discuss numerous topics. Although Andriy is not very talkative, he is straightforward. This year, most news from and about him comes through his social media. I use them, including now, to tell you about Andriy. He used to write extensive texts, analytical articles, and spoke a lot about volunteering successes and challenges, military aid, trips to the front lines, and gathering humanitarian aid and funds with the help of friends worldwide (the USA, Canada, Europe), and his work in the public organization “Chance Club,” which cared for people with addiction issues. But now he admits that at the front, he doesn’t have time for lengthy discussions, so he shares everything in a telegraphic style on his Facebook page: those who want to will understand and support him. Only occasionally does Andriy meet with familiar journalists.
Participant in Three Revolutions
Since his student days, Andriy has been interested in public life, participating in various community actions in Sumy. He started as an activist in our networked Sumy civic initiative “Community Will,” and participated in the well-known 2006 Sumy election campaign “Night Watch,” which echoed throughout the country. It seems he even managed to join the resistance action of Sumy students in the summer of 2004, the Student Revolution, which went down in our country’s history as the “Grass Revolution” – the only case when the then-President of Ukraine had to cancel his presidential decree under the pressure of civic resistance from the student youth.
Later, Andriy himself began to initiate and organize various actions: from youth protests and patriotic marches to environmental protection movements and anti-deputy picketing of Sumy City Council sessions to make deputies work and make decisions in the community’s interest rather than local oligarchs, officials, utility monopolists, and corrupt officials. He also actively participated in subsequent nationwide resistance actions – the Orange Revolution and the Revolution of Dignity. This is how he grew as a conscious, engaged citizen of his country.
An interesting and remarkable story from this page of his life is an episode from the revolutionary events of the time. During the Revolution of Dignity, in the days of intense clashes, he was at Maidan, in the government quarter, and in the Trade Unions Building. The latter housed one of the protesters’ headquarters, a media room, and rooms for people to rest. At the end of the confrontation, one night, the building burned to the ground: provocateurs set it on fire, resulting in many casualties.
During Maidan, he met many like-minded people and new friends, who continued to cross his path in life—now from different countries and continents. One of them was Ms. Halyna Klymuk Chomiak from the USA, whom he always remembers with respect and gratitude. They met several times, communicated, supported each other, and Halyna even visited Sumy.
Later, when Andriy actively volunteered and frequently traveled with humanitarian aid to the ATO, he recounted: “The last three years, besides the heavy events and irreversible losses, brought an incredible number of acquaintances, not only across the country but far beyond its borders. Such a person recently visited our city. An incredible person, a second-generation fighter, an American of Ukrainian descent, Ms. Halyna Klymuk. I am grateful to fate for bringing me together with such people.”
They had long conversations with Andriy and his comrades about the events in Ukraine. As a keepsake, the people of Sumy gave her a Ukrainian flag with signatures of soldiers and volunteers and took a group photo. Shortly after arriving in the USA, Halyna reported to the guys: “The Ukrainian flag from Sumy from the Sumy volunteers is in Florida!”
She was impressed by Andriy’s stories and made a video interview with him. Upon returning home to Florida, this meeting and the stories inspired Ms. Halyna to take decisive action in support of Ukrainians’ struggle against the regime: she started raising donations, gathering various aids, and calling on other fellow citizens in America to do the same.
She managed to collect significant funds and other humanitarian aid, necessary items, and send it all to Ukraine. And she managed to do this for the people of Sumy more than once.
Andriy, following Halyna’s example, became even more actively involved in volunteering, fundraising, and gathering humanitarian aid for displaced persons and refugees, and for fellow soldiers from the ATO. For instance, after visiting Canada, he not only brought back packages from Toronto to Sumy but also received humanitarian aid from there collected by caring Canadians, delivered to him several times. Even the Canadian flag was given to soldiers in the cabin of a combat vehicle as a reminder of the North American country’s support in the fight for freedom and peace.
On the Eastern Front – Volunteer
Today Andriy says about himself: “I am a senior soldier.” But he has been going to the front and the war since 2014. As a volunteer who, together with friends, transported tons of humanitarian aid, equipment, greetings, letters, and support from fellow countrymen from Sumy region to Donbas in his “van.” As a witness to everything that happened in the hottest spots: Pisky, Avdiivka, Shchastia, Vodiane, near the Donetsk Airport and Donetsk. As a witness to all the events and soldiers’ stories about what happened there.
He is also a romantic and creative landscaper at heart, philosophically viewing the surrounding situation, but always with great love for every part of his native land, wherever it may be: in the Sumy region, Dniprovie, Donbas – in any corner. Here’s how he describes his impressions from one of the trips in the winter of 2015 to the guys on the eastern front, just imagine:
“The rather good Dnipropetrovsk highway allowed us to cover huge distances quickly. We arrived in Krasnoarmiysk. Ahead was a broken road and endless checkpoints and people with weapons.
Driving through Donbas, it felt like spring outside the window. A beautiful sunrise! Such a sunrise you can read about in adventure literature about pirates or treasure hunters—I never thought it existed. At first, the sky was red, transitioning into a black abyss. Nothing was visible yet, and it was just starting to gray around. But in a few minutes, a red disk appeared over the horizon. And suddenly, everything became visible. Clearly visible were the boundless steppe, slag heaps, and solitary leafless trees. The black abyss instantly turned into a blue azure. Everything that was black a moment ago changed before your eyes. The moment I decided to stop the car to photograph the sunrise, several unique moments had already passed. Opening the car door, I was hit by a strong cold. It chilled my hands and forced me back into the car. Wonderful and deadly Donbas..! I returned to the wheel with this thought, along with a comparison and analogy to civilian life. Indeed, everything is so similar to nature. At home, we all just criticize the government, deputies, president, military—every third from social friends is a great politician, strategist, and commander. But that’s just the scenery from the car salon: reality is much deeper and more painful, like this frost that hit me on the hands…”
Andriy has traveled thousands of kilometers on the eastern front over those years. Many impressions! Here’s how the rest of this trip went, as told by Andriy himself:
“As planned, at the beginning of the ninth, we were at the ‘Republic of the Bridge.’ There we met one of the Sumy soldiers serving in ‘Dnipro-1.’ We talked for a long time, while my guys from Pisky didn’t answer calls. The point was that we didn’t know if we would make it to our destination because it was ‘booming’: both mortar explosions and enemy artillery were active. We were waiting for someone from the military moving in that direction to find out if we could pass through.
And so it happened. We saw the ‘volunteers of God’s Company’ rush past us and, bypassing all the turns, headed in our direction.
‘Everyone – into the car! We have to go!’ The guys obediently put on their heavy bulletproof vests, uncovered their automatics, and took their seats. Ahead was half a kilometer, shot from all sides. And the truce, as we heard, was felt even before the checkpoint (This is about the Minsk agreements – I.R.).
Less than five minutes and we were near the building in the basement of which the battalion headquarters was located. We had been here before, the streets and ruined buildings were already familiar. Entering the headquarters, we asked about the Sumy soldiers; they were serving at the checkpoint. They were called on the radio, and we had time to walk along the destroyed street.
Destroyed, once-elite houses looked at you with their black windows. Metal structures resembled skeletons burned in fire. Only because it was freezing outside could we more or less walk down the street: the equipment dragged a lot of dirt, and in spring, everything here would turn into mud. Burned equipment lay peacefully in the yards of private houses. Civilian cars serve our military well, but unfortunately, they don’t last very long. As the military themselves say, cars here are expendable items lost quickly.
Soon the guys came, and we started unloading the vehicle. This time, our expedition was very valuable and costly if converted into monetary form. We delivered to various units almost everything collected from our foreign friends: a night vision device, rangefinder, drone, radios, and binoculars.
After unloading, we talked to the guys. They told us about the truce. They say only that since Sunday, they stopped pounding with tanks, but otherwise, everything is as before. Our stay in Pisky was about two and a half, maybe three hours. And all this time, automatic bursts didn’t cease. Every ten to twenty minutes, the sounds of artillery or mortar explosions were heard. Whoever claims that there is a truce in Donbas is either brutally lying or not informed—this is an undeniable fact.
We needed to pass some things to one of the Sumy guys in ‘Dnipro-1.’ And here the quest began! From house to house. Headquarters there, from there to the medical post, from there somewhere else. As a result, we didn’t find the soldier himself because he was on a combat mission. But we left everything at headquarters with his comrade.
We said goodbye to the guys and headed back. The next point was no less hot – Vodiane. Our friend serves there, who volunteered in the 93rd brigade. The complexity lies in the fact that Vodiane and Tonenke are constantly covered by enemy artillery because they are slightly higher than Pisky. We had to go through the outskirts because artillery or mortars relentlessly hit the central road.
After wandering a bit through the village, we found their ‘location.’ In a house near the village of Vodiane, they rest and gain strength after battles. The guys were very happy with the drone. There are people there trained to use such equipment. God willing, this seemingly child’s toy will benefit them. We unloaded the car and went to drink coffee. There was no light in the house, and we had to talk over hot coffee and candles.
Roman and a young sniper talked about the battles at the airport. They talked about the losses and strange management from the center. There was an irresistible desire to write and publish this story. But their story, I am sure, should be described by witnesses, not retold by an outsider.
After finishing the coffee ceremony, we began to prepare to leave. Leaving the house, it was clearly audible how the mortars worked, exactly mortars – so a soldier told us, naming a series of signs. We were there for about an hour, and all this time, the Russo-terrorists were hitting our positions with mortars, strengthening the Minsk agreements.
Bypassing several checkpoints, we went onto a normal highway and safely headed home. From Pavlohrad, we called home and ordered a ticket to Konotop because we took a soldier home from Pisky.
Until the end of the Simferopol highway, we vividly discussed what we saw. The conclusion is simple: the war will be long, with significant casualties and a substantial economic crisis. Citizens need to realize that there is a war going on and start actively preparing for it.”
Such a conclusion was made by Andriy back in early 2015.
On the Eastern and Northern Fronts – Combat Path
In 2015, Andriy Bukin became a volunteer – a fighter in the National Guard of Ukraine Battalion named after Serhiy Kulchytsky. But to join this unit, he had to undergo eye surgery to be accepted into the military. And he was!
Another, perhaps a very strong impetus for Andriy to join the military was the loss of his comrade Roman Atamanyuk with the call sign “Berest,” who defended our country near Donetsk, from the Vodiane side, and died there in Donetsk region near Yasynuvata in the spring of 2015. Andriy always remembers Roman as the best friend, with whom to philosophize about life, play chess, drink coffee, and talk about Ukraine’s future. Such friends leave a fateful mark forever.
“My greatest personal loss is Roman Atamanyuk. People like Roman are a driving force, adding motivation to the struggle. This is a person we met in his first year. He surpassed us, he became a knight. And when Roman was gone, it was the loss of my life for me. But it is a natural process when we fight and pay a high price for this struggle,” states Andriy. “People like Roman give us a chance today to build a civilized state. They gave us the opportunity not to slide into Eastern despotism and return to the Soviet ‘prison of nations.’ I am more than convinced that we will handle historical challenges and defeat the enemy. We are on the bright side, time and civilization progress are on our side. It’s only a matter of time whether we’ll have time to enjoy the fruits of a civilized country or whether it’s already the destiny of our children. One thing can be said, if it weren’t for the young guys who laid their lives on the altar of struggle, we wouldn’t even have the opportunity to try making these changes.”
On the Eastern Front – Warrior
Here is how Andriy views his life during the war:
“Here at the front, it is simpler psychologically because, in civilian life, many issues depend not on you but on other external factors, other people, and processes. At the front, the question of life and death depends on you and the people surrounding you. Here, you feel life much more vividly. In Sumy or Kyiv, you are just living a certain time, a certain life. Here, you feel this life; it can end at any moment. For you, your friends, and those around you. And this gives a stimulus for some movement, for certain deeds. Therefore, at least, life here is more interesting.”
From the very beginning of the open attack and invasion of Russia into Ukraine, Andriy was again on the front lines:
“It’s simple for me. According to the mobilization order, I had to arrive at the battalion within a day or a day and a half, depending on how circumstances unfolded. I arrived on the 25th or 26th of February. And that’s it, I was taken into the battalion. I didn’t have a military ID, only a passport. No one mobilized me; I called the deputy battalion commander, and he said: come. At that time, it was normal. And I even took my godfather with me. We arrived at the battalion, got registered in 3.5 hours, and in the evening, we were already heading to Vyshhorod, Kazarovychi, where the first battles took place. Everyone who wanted and had the opportunity to take up arms is now fighting.”
“When we found ourselves on the first line, we saw a completely different war. When artillery covers you, a helicopter arrives and works, and you only have an automatic weapon and, at most, an RPG – it is extremely difficult to withstand the enemy’s onslaught. But then everything fell into place. There was a brigade nearby to which we were attached. Communication was established, and everything began to appear: mortars, ‘Igla’ anti-aircraft missiles. The process started. The biggest problem is establishing communication. The state of a warrior doesn’t depend on material support or weapons. Everything depends on the inner core. If a person is motivated, understands what they are doing, and where they have ended up, there are no difficulties in finding food. If unmotivated, they will always find excuses: the canned food is not right, or there isn’t enough, or the uniform isn’t right. Others will be satisfied with everything, and they will come to the war with everything they have,” assures Andriy.
Today, he continues to fight in the Kulchytsky Battalion. “And it takes all my time, I need to be engaged 24/7 and not be distracted,” Andriy assures. After the defense and liberation of the Kyiv region, after rotation, as Andriy reported on his Facebook, he and his comrades were transferred to Donbas. On social networks, he wrote: “Defending the Holy Mountains.”
“We were in Sviatohirsk – we arrived at the end of April. There is the Sviati Gory Reserve. And it’s not only Sviatohirsk. There were periods when we couldn’t say where we were. Therefore, ‘Holy Mountains.’ It’s a huge reserve extending under Lysychansk. We lived there for a month, and then we were driven out. We crossed the river, and before we took Sviatohirsk again, we were there for 6 months.”
Andriy does not consider all Russian soldiers unprepared:
“The enemy cannot be underestimated – they have good technologies, communication, and electronic warfare. They still have a good artillery school, but they fight by Soviet statutes. Their entire strategy is more metal from the sky, more soldiers on the battlefield. They actively use this, and we don’t have such luxury. Yet, it cannot be said that they have headless commanders. One should never treat the enemy arrogantly or lightly.”
At the same time, he says that now Ukrainian artillery is working much better:
“If we had worked like this six months ago, we wouldn’t have lost so much territory. I’m talking about Donbas. At the beginning of June, we simply had nothing to fight back with. Everything just fell on the shoulders of the infantry. When fifteen tanks come out, the combat options are very limited.”
Andriy is convinced that the modern technologies mastered by Ukrainian military personnel should defeat the Soviet approach of the rashists:
“They regroup, try to assemble a strike force somewhere, and on a certain section of the front, they try to make a breakthrough. If they fail, they remove almost everything, leaving the conditional LNR/DNR, and transfer combat units to another direction. Their strategy is to constantly ‘probe’ the front line.”
So, since spring, Andriy has been fighting in the Donetsk region, in the Holy Mountains, where he is now: on the eastern front. His unit performs various specific tasks: “We help the ‘gods of war’ with the ‘200th’ (referring to enemy casualties), so there’s enough work for us here every day,” he reports.
And a few more life positions, postulates, reflections, and beliefs of Andriy Bukin.
About Comrades
He often and invariably mentions his comrades and, if possible, posts group photos against the background of road signs of liberated cities and villages, over coffee, in dugouts, and while playing chess: brief, fleeting, sometimes sudden, and unexpected meetings, greetings, and reminiscences of already peaceful Sumy, Okhtyrka, Trostianets. Short conversations and reflections with friends about the country’s future, society, and life after victory.
But, unfortunately, sometimes friends are lost, and there are casualties among comrades: Romantic, Aramis, Berest, Fox, Kytaiets…
And each time, Andriy assures:
“Friend… Earned eternal life in battle! We will avenge!”
He often recalls and quotes the thoughts and sayings of his comrades to remember what they fought for together and what the guys gave their lives for:
“We went to fight to sell our lives more dearly and take more time from the enemy. We win time so that modern children, who are now writing letters to soldiers at war, grow up and become patriots of Ukraine.”
“Memory, as part of the future, to avoid repeating mistakes, to maintain statehood, to remember the war and those who remain forever young.”
About Prospects, Future
I am glad that in Sumy, Okhtyrka, Chernihiv, Kyiv, everything is more or less calm now. This is indeed the result of what we are doing at the front. This is how we move towards Victory. I am very glad that there is a territory where people live more or less civilly, despite the war. The fact that in Sumy region, Chernihiv region, and Kyiv region, most people live, go to stores, have the opportunity to buy something, refuel cars, and even go to work – I am delighted with this. It means that we are probably doing something right at the front. And the guys on our borders are on guard 24/7 for a reason. Indeed, I am very glad; for me, it is a balm. I am sincerely glad!
I also see that the processes of increasing the protection and security of the Sumy region and its borders are underway, but I would like to see something more, better there. I even went to the Sumy border on vacation, met with the guys who are fighting there now. But this is just my personal opinion; it doesn’t affect strategy or tactics in any way. I didn’t see everything and don’t know everything. But the fact that there are many more military personnel here and the Sumy region is much safer, I believe, yes. I think the chances for the Muscovites to break through any direction from Russia are very low. At least much less than in February.
I see significant changes in Ukraine: both now and before 2022. Many of them, the country itself has changed. Overall, in every period of time since 2004, something has changed radically for us. In 2004, in most regions of Ukraine, you could ‘get’ only for the Ukrainian language. In Donbas, Kryvyi Rih, Zaporizhzhia – and anywhere, just because you speak Ukrainian. Now it has changed. Sometimes we simply don’t notice the changes taking place. In 2013, we couldn’t even dream that a massive decommunization would take place. We still called streets ‘Dzerzhinsky,’ ‘Lenin,’ ‘Communist Partisans.’ Now it’s not there. This is not a willful decision of Viatrovych or any other initiators from the Verkhovna Rada; it is a societal demand – to name streets after fallen guys, our comrades.
Since 2004, colossal change has occurred in Ukraine. As well as awareness of who the enemy is for the country. A year and a half ago, we would never have been able to prove to Europe that our neighbor is killing us here, and he is generally inadequate. There were many attempts at the international level, assemblies, official meetings to prove that in Donbas, they are simply killing people. We are being killed for being Ukrainians. Everything changed this year – societal perception, global perception changed. Society is changing, we are changing. And this is the result of a systematic struggle that lasted for decades. I really like, in this regard, another monument to Sumy students in Sumy region along the highway in Andriyashivka – at the site of the attempt by the police to disperse the student foot march to Kyiv. It says, ‘At this place, we got off our knees and saw freedom.’ And it really is so. For me personally, 2004 changed my life.
About Political Processes
I have no doubt: the war will end with our victory, but when it ends – it doesn’t mean anything at all. The struggle will continue further. It will move into a political, analytical format, into the struggle of elites. We still have many collaborators who just repainted themselves. And for Ukraine to be Ukrainian, we will still have to go through these processes after the war. However, now I am not following political processes at all because I live in the war. I have a section of the front about which I know everything. But I don’t know what’s happening around. I have to be as focused as possible on the events before me and behind me. Because my life and the lives of my close ones, comrades nearby, depend on me. Of course, I understand well that globally everything depends on the political situation, international negotiations, and arms supplies. And this is very necessary, but we have to focus our attention on the things we can influence. If I now have an influence on the section of the front, I need to focus and work there.
Before the full-scale war, Andriy gathered Sumy residents for a Unity March and called for consolidation. He said the war was inevitable, but they didn’t listen to him. Why is that?
In fact, I foresaw it long before February 22. Probably because of everything I saw in the east of the country during volunteer trips there and service in the National Guard of Ukraine in 2015-2016. There were also different messages from friends in law enforcement, and I read a lot of analytics. There were warnings from friends abroad who just shouted: Russia is amassing colossal amounts of equipment, arms, and stuffing its military in the border regions – war is inevitable. However, I am not a prophet. Why should the ordinary Sumy residents absolutely listen to me? They treated me at that time as a slightly crazy person, probably. People generally don’t want to believe that some bad things will happen. And they believed to the last that there wouldn’t be a war. Most Sumy residents didn’t even believe the war had begun when it really started. Awareness came when the fighting started here. That’s how human psychology works, probably.
Andriy Bukin is confident that this time Ukrainians will take advantage of the historic chance for victory.
“We are destined to win, it’s a question of price and time. But in any case, we will win. We have already won because we united. We couldn’t imagine in 2014 that we would have such tremendous support in resisting the aggressor. The entire civilized world supports us. This is radically different from the struggle that was 100 years ago when no one supported us. We will do everything to make Ukraine free, independent, and unified from San to the Caucasus,” says Andriy Bukin. “As for victory, it’s just a matter of time, not even resources. We are already winning. Because we are strong and fighting for our identity. And this is simply impossible to kill. We will go all the way this time. It’s a defense of sovereignty, and we will take everything back. It could be in half a year, in a year and a half, in three, five years. It doesn’t matter when it will be. This process is already launched. The world has seen that there is an inadequate tyrant who wants to destroy Ukrainians. Not the military, not people with weapons, but all Ukrainians. He hates Ukrainians as an ethnic group, and this is not a war for territory. It’s a matter of ethnic survival. Therefore, we will win in any case. After all, we are great, strong, and brave.”
Ihor REKUN