The international delegation, headed by Ana Lucía Bueno, ICRC Public Health Coordinator, and Sujit Panda, Head of the Physical Rehabilitation…
Currently, “Knyaz” is an officer of the 10th Mobile Border Detachment “Dozor”.
His conversation with the service was published on February 23 by the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.
“Knyaz” is a participant in battles in the Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Luhansk regions and in the Black Sea.
His combat path began in September 2003 — during the defense of the Ukrainian island of Tuzla.
At the time, 19-year-old cadet of the National Academy of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine did not yet know that he would witness the first open attempt by the Kremlin to seize Ukrainian territory.
“On September 10, 2003, we were gathered in the gym and told there was a chance to take part in serious competitions. Already in Crimea it became clear: this was a cover story to avoid information leaks”, — the officer recalls.
Russia had begun building a dam in the Kerch Strait, attempting to de facto alter the border. The cadets, together with special border forces, found themselves directly on the line.
“Border guards are the first to meet the enemy. That’s how we were taught. And it happened that already as a cadet I felt exactly what we were being prepared for”, — says Knyaz.
Provocations were constant: demonstrative helicopter flights, simulated landings, attempts to ram Coast Guard ships. Ukrainian forces prepared for full-scale combat. It was then that the feeling appeared: this is only the beginning.
February 24, 2022, brought back the same feeling — but with different experience and responsibility.
“I felt déjà vu. As if I had gone back 20 years. But now it wasn’t confusion — it was combat anger”, — Knyaz recalls.
His unit carried out missions in Kyiv and Chernihiv regions, took part in the counteroffensive in Kharkiv region, operated in the Zaporizhzhia direction, and at the end of 2022 manned the defense of Bakhmut. After the death of Hero of Ukraine Colonel Yurii Yurchyk, the officer led a consolidated border detachment in the battles for the city.
The intensity of combat in Bakhmut was extreme. During one mission, the aerial reconnaissance group effectively found itself behind enemy lines.
“The battle began at extremely close range. Our guys captured a machine gun, turned it against the enemy, launched a drone, established communication, and called fire on themselves”, — Knyaz recounts.
Thanks to coordinated actions and precision weapons, nine border guards managed to break out of encirclement.
Confirmed enemy losses amounted to about 170 personnel. Not a single Ukrainian soldier was wounded.
The unit also participated in the evacuation of the Avdiivka garrison, the defense of Krasnohorivka, battles in the Serebrianskyi Forest, as well as joint operations with Defence Intelligence units in the Black Sea — including during the liberation of the so-called Boyko Towers.
As a result, trophy Russian reconnaissance equipment was seized.
The officer speaks of the enemy without illusions:
“In 2022, they threw people in like meat — 10–15 at a time, sometimes without weapons. Now they are changing their approaches, but their attitude toward their own soldiers remains the same. We treat the enemy coldly. He must be destroyed by all available means, making decisions with a clear head”, — Knyaz believes.
In his view, for Ukrainian society modern Russia will remain an enemy for at least one generation.
