Stanislav Krasnov is the commander of the battalion “Crimea” who was proactively involved into Euromaidan events. He thinks that the story of his moving to Kiev, the creation of the battalion and participation in the war is worthy of detective novels. He led the local organization of the “Svoboda” party in Simferopol but left this position. Now there is no entry to Crimea for our conversation partner and he constantly receives summons from the FSB being worried about his parents who stayed there.
Please, tell us about the battalion “Crimea”. Who organized it and how did you get there?
When Maidan was over, we decided that it is necessary to create own Crimean battalion as a fighting unit that will stand against the occupation and aggression in the East while being a symbol that Crimeans actively fought against the occupation of Crimea contrary to the wrong belief that they agreed easily and supported it. It should be not just in words but also in a military struggle among other things.
How many people are in the battalion now?
Now there are about 60 people in the battalion and of course, it is not very much. But other battalions asserting themselves as this kind of fighting unit have much less people. About a half of our battalion takes a rest in Kiev by rotation while another half of it holds a front line on the positions in the village Peski. We decided to create the battalion in the middle of the summer. At that point in time many of our guys have already had the fighting experience in other battalions such as “Azov” and “Aydar”. With the help of Andrey Schekun we wrote the letter to the Minister of Defence asking him to give a command to create the battalion at the Ministry of Defence. At that time Valeriy Heletey was the Minister and he gave an order about creating the 44th assault battalion and the military unit 2440. I was appointed the temporarily assuming the responsibilities of the commander at the order and our guys were mobilized during the last wave. The order for its formation went forth but there was no order that the battalion has already formed. It was delayed, then the Minister was replaced and this issue was stuck. Now the situation is as follows: we all are mobilized and as for me, I sorta serve in the army while being in the battalion that doesn’t exist legally.
Are there the Crimean Tatars among your soldiers?
No, there are not. There were some guys who wanted to fight but they disappeared. Actually, there is the small unit “Crimea”, which consists of 5 people. They serve at the battalion “Donbass”. We don’t have any contacts with them. To tell the truth, I don’t support them. They are the Islamic fundamentalists.
Your call sign is “Crimea”. Where did it come from?
It began with the assault of KievRada when I was called Stas Crimea.
Who funds your battalion?
We have a charity fund “Ukrainian Crimea” created by our guys. They help us with the uniform and food. I can’t say that we have enough winter clothes and body armor vests but there is the required minimum amount. We have captured weapon because there is nowhere to get another one and nobody gives it us for no special reason.
Why did you decide to go to war knowing that it is not like Maidan actions?
How could it be otherwise? It is our duty to our country. We all have to go there and defend it as good as ever we can.
Are you scared?
No, I am not. At all. Why to be scared? It seems to me that those people, who were scared, have already run away.
Now the government claimed the “Silent regime” that has already been violated many times according to the RNBO. Is there a real de-escalation of enemy pressure?
No, nothing has changed. When it is getting dark, the enemy starts to trap and fire. It doesn’t care whether it is the “Silent regime” or a truce. Fighting continues.
How do you think what our army needs to win?
To my mind, our army needs a good military command. It seems to me that our command consists of a kind of “DNRovtsy” and “LNRovtsy”. They don’t make even obvious steps. For example, when it is needed to retreat or attack, everything is quite opposite and with a huge delay. If it were not for volunteer battalions, we would lose this war a long time ago. I think that in that case not only Donetsk and Lugansk but also Dnepropetrovsk, Kharkov and Odessa regions were occupied.
Did you take some training course before going to the front?
There were no special trainings. Our base is those people who have already fought in other battalions. Those people who join us later are explained everything when being on place: how to take assault rifle to pieces and put it together, how to shoot. There is a place in the village Tonenkoe, where new soldiers spend a couple of days. They get used to the bombs and surroundings and only after that they go to the front.
Does the state help volunteer battalions somehow?
It is exactly the opposite. It even gets in the way.
How important is the moral support for soldiers? Do letters and drawings from children reach you?
Of course, they do. Everything arrived to our charity fund. We send them to volunteer battalions. There is “Dnepr-1” left of us and “Right Sector” right and back of us. We give them all received letters as well. All these drawings are hanging on the walls at our locations.
How do you think whether this war you see as a soldier is different from the war that mass media show to Ukrainians?
Of course, it is different. When you spend there for a couple of weeks, everything becomes less terrible. You just get used to that as if it were your job. It turns to be a routine: you wake up and go on duty. We are on duty for three hours and then have some rest for six hours.
What conditions do you live in?
We live in dug-in guard posts with very bad conditions. It is always cold here and it is better not to fire a furnace because it is seen very well through a thermal imager and the artillery fires at it immediately.
Now outbreaks and uprisings of soldier’s mothers happen. They write to the Committees very actively and ask to return their children. What can you say about that?
There is no wonder because our military command is dull. To some extent, I’m even glad that we are not in that army since everything goes wrong there. It looks like sabotage. That’s why mother are in a riot. I’m surprised that they didn’t start to do that earlier and soldiers didn’t defect from the army en masse. For example, somebody is sent to the post in the middle of the field. There is the APC that doesn’t work: it was brought there, so it is impossible to start it. But the APC that can’t be started doesn’t turn the gun and there is no electricity, it simply doesn’t work. They dig trenches, put there three soldiers and then simply forget about them. Soldiers can stay there, for example, for three weeks. If it were not for the volunteers, they would have died of starvation there. That is our army. I would like to show you how the army ammunition storage is organized. They dig a huge trench and simply put all shells, grenades and RPGs there. Now the snow will melt away and everything will be wrong.
Do you communicate with local people while being in Donets and what do they say?
Many people in Donetsk support Russia. This should come as no surprise because powerful propaganda works there. All local channels are either Russian ones or “DNRovskye”. If a normal, average citizen who doesn’t know how to analyze watch them, he will hate Ukraine soon and very strongly.
How do you think when the war is over, the release of Crimea will happen “automatically” or it will be necessary to fight for it in a different way?
The situation with Crimea is more complicated. “DNR” and “LNR” are the territory of Ukraine and everyone agrees with it. Of course, Russia recognized the elections there but these territories are not a part of a powerful state and they are on their own. To my mind, they will lose their energy sooner or later and become a part of Ukraine again. They can’t exist by themselves. But there is another situation with Crimea. Russia believes that it is its territory. There are the Russian authorities there and it is necessary to return Crime in some political way because if there is a military operation to return it, then a real war will start between Russian and Ukraine. We dislike it but Ukraine can do nothing against Russia. If we can’t do anything against the “gang of homeless people” for so long time, then what would we do if Russia started a real war?
So, do you think that it is an anti-terrorist operation?
I don’t know. Probably, now it is no longer the war than ATO. To my mind, the anti-terrorist operation can’t last six months and it rather takes a couple of hours. When the war is over? All indications are that it will not be soon. It seems to me that it will take another six months and may be, even more time.
Is the Ukrainian army strong enough to continue the fight?
Definitely yes. I think, this war has a positive effect on the Ukrainian army. Actually, we finally got such a thing as the Ukrainian army.
Photo: Emma Soldatova
