“Three kinds of invading soldiers here. You can tell who they are fast. The first kind are conscripts who don’t want to be here. They want to go home. Hungry. Poorly armed and trained. Poorly supplied. They surrender without much provoking. They are children to us and I feel bad for them.

The second kind of Russian is more hard inside. They are soldiers. Real soldiers. They have officers with them who aren’t so stupid and they will stand and fight, sometimes push us away from them. You need to be careful with them. They are professional soldiers who don’t just have 3 reloads for their rifles like the first group.

The third kind is Chechens. These we view as the same as Mongols. Dangerous and violent. They came here for fun it seems and do not get captured alive by them. They carry knives.”

– Ukrainian Soldier. Invasion of Ukraine. February 28th, 2022.

This story was documented by Nicholas Laidlaw.

Every soldier has a story, and every story deserves to be told.