The international delegation, headed by Ana Lucía Bueno, ICRC Public Health Coordinator, and Sujit Panda, Head of the Physical Rehabilitation…
He lived his entire life in the Czech Republic. He had never served in the army and worked as a project manager at an American IT company, and now he is a UAV o
The story of the fighter was shared on the page of the 128th Separate Mountain Assault Transcarpathian Brigade.
In civilian life, his job was organizing programmers and managing projects.
After the start of the full-scale war, the man began looking for a way to help Ukraine.
“It was hard to just watch the news and do nothing. I was very worried about Ukraine”, — he says.
At the beginning of 2023, he heard on a local radio station about trench candles and decided to make them himself.
“I thought: this is something I can actually do. I started making candles in the Czech Republic. I made about two thousand and began looking for a way to deliver them to the military”, — he recalls.
Through acquaintances, he contacted a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who was fighting in the Kharkiv direction and decided to deliver the aid personally.
“I took a minibus, we loaded the candles and went to Ukraine. That was the first time I saw the front. I saw how soldiers live — in dugouts underground. And I saw a lot of weapons. For me, it was a shock”, — the fighter says.
According to him, the soldiers were very happy with the help.
When he asked how else he could help, the fighters answered simply — a vehicle.
After this trip, the man created a small volunteer initiative and began raising money online.
“People started donating. With this money, we bought a car and an anti-drone rifle”, — he says.
Over time, more people joined the effort.
The man recalls how one factory even donated five thousand metal cups for candles. In total, they managed to produce over 15 thousand trench candles.
For the Ukrainian army, “Import” collected aid worth 1.2 million hryvnias, 500 thousand of which were his personal funds.
However, with each trip to the front, returning to peaceful life became increasingly difficult.
“Every evening I went to bed in a warm bed and thought: right now thousands of soldiers are sleeping in cold dugouts. And I asked myself — why am I here and they are there”, — he says.
Eventually, the man decided to join the Ukrainian army and began preparing.
“I bought a civilian drone, goggles, and started training. First on simulators, then on a real drone”, — he recalls.
“Import” signed a contract with the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the winter of 2025 and chose the motorized infantry battalion of the 128th Brigade, as his friend with the callsign “Karabin”, who speaks Czech, serves there.
He received his callsign “Import” already at the front — by accident.
“For a long time I didn’t have a callsign. I served with a commander called ‘Karabin’.
Over the radio they would sometimes ask: ‘Is this Karabin or the one imported from the Czech Republic?’” — the soldier jokes.
That’s how his callsign — “Import” — appeared.
In the spring of 2025, he arrived at the positions of drone operators. At that time, there was almost no enemy equipment left attacking Ukrainian positions.
According to him, dealing with equipment is even somewhat easier — it is large and visible from afar.
But when a single soldier is running — he is small, hides, maneuvers, can crawl into bushes or a pit.
For a warrior, it is critical not to lose sight of the enemy.
“If you lose the enemy, he can hide and reappear near our infantry in a week or two. Our task is primarily to stop the enemy. It is not necessary to destroy him immediately”, — he adds.
“Import” did not tell his family about his participation in the war so they would not worry about him:
“Friends think I’m a volunteer. They don’t know I’m at war. My parents don’t know, my sister doesn’t either. They just think I’m helping Ukraine”, — he concluded.
