Ukrainian Volunteer Day: The Story of Soldier Mykola Volokhov

On March 14, Ukraine celebrates Ukrainian Volunteer Day – a day for people who consciously decided to take up arms and defend their country. For many of them, this choice was not easy, but it was decisive for their entire future life. Mykola Volokhov, a soldier, commander of the "Terra" unit in the 3rd Assault Brigade, with the call sign "Abdula," told UNN journalist about his path from a young university graduate to an aerial reconnaissance officer and fighter, being a volunteer.

After graduating from university, "Abdula" almost immediately found himself at the front. The decision to go to war was made at a time when the country was just beginning to realize the scale of the threat. The soldier says that he did not hesitate for long, although he understood that this choice would change his life.

When it all started in 2014, of course, I thought and weighed things. But I had a memory from childhood: we watched the news, where refugees were shown, and I asked my father why young men were also fleeing. He said he didn't know himself. And I remembered that conversation. So when the question of defending the country arose, I realized: if you are young, have strength, and are not ready to defend what is yours, then what are your chances for the future? I defended my diploma and literally immediately went to war.

The soldier gained his first combat experience in 2014, when he joined a volunteer unit. At that time, many things were unorganized, and decisions were often made on the spot. Even the choice of a call sign happened spontaneously.

They told us: guys, come up with call signs so we can somehow identify you. We stood and thought for a long time, because it seemed like a very serious decision. And one fighter said: don't worry, we'll change them every week. It turned out that this is not the case, and a call sign usually stays for life. And although there was an opportunity to change it later, I decided to keep the one I chose then.

With the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022, the soldier returned to the army again. He says that this time the decision felt completely different. If in 2014 many went with a certain romanticism, now he clearly understood what war was.

Honestly, I didn't want to go to war a second time. Because I already knew what it was like and how difficult it was. But when the Russians went to Kyiv, I didn't even have a process of reflection. The decision was made back in 2014. And my friends started calling me, wanting to join, but they had no experience. And I realized that my mission was to gather them and do everything to prevent them from dying while defending Kyiv.

Over the years of the war, "Abdula" has gone from an infantryman to a soldier working with modern technologies. Initially, he was a scout and performed tasks on the front line, and later began working with drones and artillery adjustment. It is technology, he says, that has become one of the factors that changed the course of the war.

Initially, we went on reconnaissance on foot - we looked at enemy positions, set up ambushes, performed sabotage tasks. Then drones appeared, and we began to adjust artillery. Once, two volleys managed to destroy almost a battery of enemy artillery. At that moment, it became clear that the future of war, after all, lies in technology.

The soldier says that volunteers played a special role in the first months of the war. They were often the first to respond to the threat when the situation was most uncertain. And whether the country could withstand the first blow depended on their number.

When you go as a volunteer, you go into complete uncertainty. No one knows what will happen tomorrow. We then thought: if we survive three days of fighting in Kyiv, it will already be a great result. But the very fact that thousands of people then took up arms showed the enemy that their blitzkrieg plan would not work.

Today, there are fewer volunteers at the front than at the beginning of the full-scale war, the soldier admits. This is natural for a protracted conflict, as society gets tired, and people seek predictability. However, motivated fighters still come, and of different age categories, the soldier says.

Of course, there are fewer volunteers than at the start. But they are there. And these are people who make conscious decisions. Many are scared by uncertainty - no one knows how long the war will last. But those who still come voluntarily are truly very strong people.

On Ukrainian Volunteer Day, the soldier says that he first and foremost thinks about his comrades with whom he has walked this path. For him, it is not just a date on the calendar, but an opportunity to remember the people who made their choice at the most difficult moment.

On this day, I will call my friends with whom we went together back in 2014. I will tell them that I deeply respect them for that decision. Because it is thanks to such people that Ukraine is still Ukraine. And the Russians have not been able to break us for the fourth year.

He says that there are different ways to help the front, and not just directly on the front line.

If there is an internal desire, opportunity, and strength to join the units of the Defense Forces, it is worth doing so. In particular, I invite you to the third army corps. We have many different specialties - related to military work, technology, planning, and provision. And those people who voluntarily help the front, even without being military, are also volunteers in a certain sense. So today, in a certain sense, it is also their holiday.

In addition, "Abdula" sincerely thanked all those people who support the military in the rear.

I am very grateful to everyone who supports, very grateful to everyone who donates. Very grateful to everyone who works at enterprises related to providing for the army. And simply to people who, you know, write comments, send photos, or children's drawings.