33-year-old paratrooper Pavlo Filatyev was one of thousands of Russian soldiers who invaded Ukraine on February 24. After two months, he resigned from the army due to his health. Now he publicly opposes the war, writes Der Tagesspiegel.

In his book “ZOV” (after the symbol that the Russian army painted on their cars), he gives an idea of ​​the state of the army before the war and describes his experience in the first days of the invasion.

Excerpts from his book were first published by the investigative journalism platform iStories, and then the Russian online publication “Meduza” published excerpts from the book in English translation.

He didn’t know what was happening

According to him, at the beginning of the invasion it was still unclear to him what was happening:

“[Pe 24 februarie] I woke up at two in the morning. […] I could not understand: are we shooting at the advancing Ukrainians? Or maybe NATO [trupe]? Or do we attack? Who is this infernal bombardment aimed at?” Filyatev writes.

“Even a paratrooper wouldn’t know what’s going on”

“The column slowly began to move. I heard shots and explosions from the side where we were going. Where we were going and why is unclear. [Dar] it was clear that a real war had begun.”

According to Filatyev, the equipment is “irreparably outdated”, and the battle tactics of the Russian army are the same as those of its grandfathers.

They did not see enemies in Ukraine

Due to his health, he left the army two months later, but returned:

“The command stated that I was evading my duties and sent documents to the prosecutor’s office to open criminal proceedings. With this bluff, they are trying to turn many people back.”

In his opinion, most of the military were dissatisfied with what happened, with Putin and his policies.

“We had no moral right to attack another country, especially the people closest to us. When all this began, I knew few people who believed in the Nazis and wanted to fight against Ukraine. I did not harbor hatred and did not – I considered Ukrainians as enemies.” – he writes.

“We have all become hostages of many forces, and I believe that we have allowed ourselves to be carried away by the waves. We started a terrible war. A war during which cities are destroyed and which leads to the death of children, women and the elderly,” concludes Pavlo Filatyev.