The BBC just released an article detailing the lives of two Ukrainian teenagers who have just decided to join the battle to save their country from the Russians.
The Ukrainian teens featured in the article are Maksym Lutsyk and Dmytro Kisilenko. Lutsyk is described as a “19-year-old biology student,” while Kisilienko is described as an 18-year-old “who was studying economics.”
Both, along with other Ukrainian teens, have decided to volunteer at a center in Kyiv to fight on behalf of their country against the Russians.
Essentially they have put themselves on a path that may very quickly lead to the frontlines of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
A firsthand account
In the article, the BBC takes readers to a bus station from which the young men would be taken to a training base. At the training base, will young men will learn the bare minimum needed to enter the battlefield.
Kisilenko and Lutsyk provided some details about the truncated training to the BBC.
“I got used to my gun,” Kisilenko said. “I learned how to shoot and how to act in the battle, also many other things that will be very crucial in the fight with the Russians.”
Lutsyk, on the other hand, said, “I feel much more confident than I was before, because we get enough knowledge in tactics, in martial arts, in tactical medicine, and in how to do something on the battlefield.”
“No one wants to die”
The two teens also spoke to the BBC about how their families feel about their decision to volunteer for the Ukrainian military.
Lutsyk, according to the outlet, “spared [his family] the details of his deployment because he didn’t want to worry them.” Kisilenko’s on the other hand, told his parents, who, he says, are proud of what he is doing.
The BBC also asked the young men whether they are scared, to which Kisilenko replied, “Not much, but it is human nature to feel scared, and of course deeply in my soul I feel a bit scared, as no one wants to die, even if it’s for your country. So, death is not an option for us.”
Whether or not the two teens will make it to the frontline will depend on how far Russia can push. For the time being, they are just behind the frontline.
