Please, watch the video below first, at least 2-3 minutes to hear the pain and emotions of this Ukrainian man. Better forward the video after the fifth minute. Then read the translation below. (My own comments will be given in brackets like this.)
(The author of the video uses a lot of curse words in the video, so, be aware.)
"My son’s birthday is coming up. I have one son. Just one! I’m divorced, single. I live far away from him. I see him once a year. Once a year, damn it! Last year, I missed his birthday. My little boy turned 8. I didn’t go... I didn’t go because I was afraid. Not because I was afraid of the Russians or enemy attacks. No, damn it! I’m afraid of our own!!! I’m afraid of checkpoints. I’m afraid of the draft office. I’m afraid of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. I’m afraid of people—ordinary Ukrainians, damn it!"
"This year, I really want to go to my son’s birthday. My only son is turning 9. And he tells me, “Dad, come! Are you coming to my birthday?” And I don’t know. I’m scared, damn it! I’m a grown, bearded man, 41 years old, for f..k’s sake! And I’m scared, damn it! I’m not afraid of Putin, damn it! I’m not afraid of his damn soldiers! I’m afraid of my own people! Because at any checkpoint, they could stop me, beat me, cripple me, or f..king kill me!"
(To explain the next sentence, I need to explain what IPSO means in Ukraine. The exact translation of IPSO in English is “Information and Psychological Special Operations” (IPSO). This term refers to coordinated efforts aimed at influencing public perception, behavior, and morale through psychological and informational tactics. It is commonly associated with military or governmental strategies designed to manipulate narratives, spread propaganda, or achieve strategic psychological effects on a target audience. The Ukrainian government says all the IPSO come from Russia... So, if you say something they do not like, it's immediately IPSO)
"And someone will say, “This is IPSO, you’re lying, this is disinformation!” F..king IPSO? What the hell are you talking about? I’m scared!!! How many people do I know in the same situation? Don’t you know people who just sit at home? One guy had to shut down his business. Another one switched to remote work. Thank God he could! Others are being fed by their mothers, grandmothers, wives—because they’re afraid to go outside!"
"What are they afraid of? Enemy missile strikes? No!!! They’re afraid of OURS, damn it! They’re afraid of the draft officers! They’re afraid of the Armed Forces, damn it—the f..king Ukrainian Armed Forces, damn it! Ukraine! Not Russia. Ukraine!"
"Ukraine, damn it! Ukraine, for f..k’s sake! Not Russia—Ukraine!!! I’m choking on my own tears, damn it! Tears of "joy and happiness" because we’re being “protected,” damn it, by such "warriors" at the checkpoints! Fifty fattened bodies at each checkpoint, damn them! Should I shout "Glory to the Armed Forces?" damn them! "Glory to the army?", damn it!"
"Why should I shout? Because I need to pay $5,000 to buy my way out, damn it? And where the hell am I supposed to get that kind of money? Where? I only have just enough to make the trip, to pay for gas. That’s it! I have nothing else.!That’s it, damn i!. Everything I’ve earned, I’d have to give away, for f..k’s sake. And for what? So I can “fight,” damn it? So I can be sent to the Armed Forces, damn it? Go to the draft office and fight for what, damn it? For corruption, for f..k’s sake? For the fact that I went to Maidan? To two Maidans?" (The revolutions or coups against the pro-Russian president in 2004 and 2014 in Ukraine) "Damn it!"
(Coughing)..
"I just hope I don’t die—not from coughing, damn it, but from getting beaten to death somewhere. Beaten in a basement. Just because I don’t want to go fight!"
"Because meanwhile, plenty of guys are driving around in some damn Jeeps, in a f...king Rolls-Royce, in Teslas, damn it! And they don’t even get stopped! Not even their cars get checked. Because the draft officers see, they understand—that’s a rich and important person. He could be trouble for them, damn it! Not worth the hassle!"
"But some random nobody like me, driving a sh..ty Lanos" (a cheap car) "...oh yeah, come here, damn it! And then it’s all set up with a little phone call—$5,000, $10,000, and they’ll let you go from the draft office. So they don’t beat the hell out of you, so they don’t smash your teeth and ribs in, damn it! Just because a guy simply doesn’t want to fight! That’s how simple things are in our Ukraine. It’s sad as hell, but it’s that simple."
"Do we have democracy or what? Or is this some f...ked-up tyranny, damn it? I can’t even say a word! I’ve already been to jail, I’ve already been to the SBU" (special police, like FBI) "...twice. They, damn it, handcuffed me at the police station! I’m afraid of the police!!! I’m afraid of our special services, damn it, the Ukrainian ones! I’m afraid of all of them! When I see the police or people in uniform, damn it, I get this freak-out, my knees start shaking. I’m scared, damn it!! I’m not afraid of the Russian army! Screw them too! I’m afraid of my own, my own people!!!"
"And they’ll say I’m an “IPSO.” They’ll say I’m a Kremlin agent, damn it! Go ahead, f..k off. You’re all a bunch of idiots! And who’s saying this, damn it? The ones who bought their way out, damn it, or the ones who ran abroad, damn it! Everyone’s talking. Or those who paid to sit, damn it, not on the front lines, not on the military front. They’ll find me and beat me up! Or the military will beat me up. Or the police will beat me up. Whoever finds me first will beat me up!!!" (Confirmed personally - they did the same to me and will do again as soon as they put hands on me again. Read my story here. ) "And then they’ll post a picture on the internet. “Found a Kremlin agent. Found, damn it, a Russophobe, you bastards!”
"And what do you think? I’m the only one, damn it? No, there are millions of us, there are plenty of us!"
"People, damn it—how did we get here? How did we end up like this? I went to Maidan twice, not for money. I spent my own money. I brought my own damn money to Maidan for the sake of a brighter future for Ukraine! And I’ve regretted it 300 times, but the goal, the whole meaning of Maidan—that’s what mattered. I went so that we wouldn’t have the “Russian world” here. I went so we could go to Europe, so we could be a democratic, bright, civilized country!"
"And what have we turned into? What have we become? We’ve turned into North Korea. No, even worse than North Korea! Now the world says, “It’s like in Ukraine,” because we’re not allowed to leave. We’re sitting in a cage. Men aren’t allowed out of Ukraine. Men are sneaking out through the Tysa River, through the Carpathian mountains!"
"And what, you think I’m lying? You think I’m making this sh.t up? And now they’ll call me a Kremlin agent? Everyone whispers, “Shh, quiet, shut up, keep your mouth shut!” “What are you saying, Zhenya?" (the name of the author)
"Damn it, do we have democracy or what? Or is this some f..ked-up tyranny, damn it?"
"There are millions of us, so many of us! I am a true Ukrainian! I can’t visit my son, who is Ukrainian, born of a Ukrainian mother! My son’s name is Ustin, like Ustin Karmelyuk, in honor of an Ukrainian national hero! I can’t go! I can’t go to see my son, I’m afraid, I’m really scared!"
"I am very afraid of the Ukrainian army. And maybe after this video, I will end up in prison, or in some basement. Or soon I’ll be asking for forgiveness with a broken face on video. What do you think? This is impossible in our country, in a democracy? But of course, this is what will happen!"
"And what? Again? I’m already fed up, damn it. I’m tired, it’s exhausting. They beat me! No one even sits down with me to talk and say, “Zhenya, what are you saying? What are you posting?” What am I saying? I’m telling the truth!!! Just the plain truth! No one is paying me from Moscow, or Russia. I’m just telling the truth—what’s been bothering me, and what bothers not just me, but also many Ukrainians!"
"I show my sister in Germany the cities, and the city, where I live. She is asking why our streets are empty? Were you occupied? Yes, we were occupied, damn it!!! We were occupied by the draft officers. We were occupied by the Armed Forces of Ukraine! We were occupied by the police, damn it, of Ukraine, f..k. It's so scary, damn it! What will happen next with us, damn it? What will happen next with Ukrainians? What will happen next with Ukraine? It hurts, damn it! It f..king hurts."
"We haven’t become Ukrainians. We haven’t become an Ukrainian nation! We haven’t become Ukraine! Unfortunately! I haven’t shouted for a long time "Slava Ukraini "(Glory to Ukraine), "Glory to heroes!" Where are those heroes? Where? Where??? Who, damn are they? Where? Are those the heroes who stop us at checkpoints and take money? The heroes who tied me to a battery for the whole night at a police station? Are those heroes, damn it? Or who? Or the heroes who were bus'ified and taken to their death on the verge, damn it? Who ripped at the belly? He’s a hero, damn it! Let it be.!If it’s easier for you. Easier for you, damn it. It’s not easier for me."
"I’m scared! I’m absolutely frightened! What will happen next, I don’t know. Thank you! Bye!"
"Don’t forget to bring me a care package to prison, some parcel for me. They’ll definitely call me a separatist, a Russian collaborator. Again. Again. It’s easy for them, like two fingers to suck. They don’t accuse corrupt people, traitors, MPs. No! They’ll break, beat up people like me, damn it! Those, who has no money, no protection, no lawyer. Nothing! They’ll easily break, beat up people like me, damn it, put them in jail, in basements, damn it, turn them into meat, on the front. People like that are easy. What have we come to? What have we fought for? What have we achieved?"
"People, people... Oh, damn! Apologies. Bye."
UPDATE: Four days after this video Zhenya (the author of the video) was kidnapped by the draft officers.
(For all reading this. Please remember I am currently in hiding in Ukraine. Please, get me out of here! Anyone who has contacts at the US Embassy? Please get in touch with the Senior Editor of American Revival Press. Contact us. THANK YOU!)