August 4th 2026
Yuriy reflects on a recurring message from a friend who has served since the first days of the war: “It’s a miracle we are still standing.” He recalls his first unit that defended Kyiv in February–March 2022, noting that out of roughly 100 people, by August 2026 only seven or eight would still be serving. About half were killed, many in the first two years; others are missing in action, discharged due to wounds or health, or allowed to leave after losing close family. He recounts a father and 18-year-old son who served together, the son’s death in the first summer, and the father carrying his body out before leaving the army. He describes prisoners in harsh Russian camps, some exchanged, others still held, and concludes that almost none of the early volunteers remain in uniform as he marks four and a half years - 10% of his life - in the army.
Send Yuriy your letter of support fightingtherussianbeast@gmail.com
Yuriy’s Podbean Patron sign-up to give once or regularly: https://patron.podbean.com/yuriy
Buy Yuriy a coffee here: https://bmc.link/yuriymat
Subscribe to his substack: https://yuriymatsarsky.substack.com/
----more----
TRANSCRIPT: (Apple Podcasts & Podbean app users can enjoy accurate closed captions)
It is 4th of August. One of my friends who, like me, has been in the army since the very first days of the war, sends me the same message from time to time, "It's a miracle we are still standing." And it really is a miracle. If someone had thought to take a group photo of my first unit, the one that defended Kiev in February and March of 2022, when out of the roughly 100 people in that picture by August 2026, no more than seven or eight would still be serving. About half of our guys are dead, most of them killed during the first two years of the war. Many others are missing in action. Most likely, they were killed too. Their bodies were simply never found, and as long as there is no body to bury, a person is officially listed as missing. Some were discharged because of their health or after being wounded. A few were allowed to leave the army after losing close family members in the war. In my first unit, a father and his son served together. The father was about my age. The son was 18. He was killed during first summer of the war. His father carried his body back from the front line himself. He trusted no one else to do it. After that, he left the army. I have no idea where he is now. Some of our people were taken prisoner. A few have been exchanged and managed to return to civilian life. Others are still trapped in the inhuman conditions of Russian prison camps that have hardly changed since the days of Stalin's gulag. I've seen men returning from those places. Several of my friends survived Russian captivity. It is the worst thing I can imagine. Thankfully, those who come back have the right to leave the military and try to build a life again. And this is just one unit- my first company. The picture is much the same everywhere else. Of the hundreds of thousands of the volunteers who joined during the first weeks of the invasion, almost none are still in uniform. We are like dinosaurs that somehow escaped extinction while the rest of our species disappeared. I did the math recently and realized I've reached a strange milestone. Almost exactly 10% of my life has now been spent in the army. Four and a half years out of 45. For someone who never imagined linking his life to military service, that's a very long time. For someone who has spent those four and a half years fighting in the bloodiest war since the Second World War, it's far too long.
