By : thoughtfulnews.com

Updated At : 12/22/2022

Ukraine :

This is a war in which Ukraine fathers and sons serve on the same front. And that’s what happened to his 22-year-old Eugene Gromadskyi. At least at first it was.

On the first day of the invasion, he stood shoulder to shoulder with his father Oleg on the outskirts of Kharkov.

In the first critical hours, he commanded his forces, overwhelming them in numbers and firepower, attacking and destroying columns of Russian vehicles and taking prisoners. For this, Eugene was to receive the country’s highest military honor. His father would meet another fate.

Eugene was in the middle of it for most of the war. Starting out as a lieutenant in the National Guard, he is now a senior lieutenant in the Army’s 92nd Mechanized Brigade, named after 17th-century Cossack military leader Ivan Sirko.

The intelligence platoon, commanded by Eugene, calls itself the Circo’s Rowdy Boys, and its motto is “Avenge All”. “They are my family, Ukraine ” he tells me

On his December morning in Kupyansk, about 120 km (75 mi) southeast of Kharkiv, the howling wind hits you, and even before reaching every inch of loose clothing and exposed skin, the temperature is -7 degrees. It’s mostly open country – no shelter from the wind, no shelter from the Russians, who are here and there in firing range. The rows of trees that provided camouflage in the summer are now bare. No hiding place.

But Eugene is full of vitality. He describes the early days of the war as frustrating. Ukrainian forces recaptured a village or two, but little momentum. They were defensive and ill-prepared, and a summer stalemate began. However, in September a coordinated counteroffensive launched from Balakliya reached Kupyansk.