Today at 21:09
Several hundred military personnel gathered on these parade grounds. Everyone was in a holiday mood. It’s the 80th anniversary of the 80th air assault brigade. The brigade’s members sang the Ukrainian national anthem and were honoured with military medals for their service.
Oleksandr Kleshch volunteered to fight alongside Ukrainian forces when Russia’s invasion began in 2014. During the battle for the control of Sloviansk, he was injured by shrapnel. His rehabilitation was long, but he eventually recovered and returned to serve. He said he’s ready to protect his country at any moment.
“If today they order me to go to the frontline, I am ready because every normal soldier should have his things packed and he should be ready for anything,” Kleshch said.
Saint Nicholas could be seen riding onto the parade grounds on an armoured personnel carrier with a bag full of gifts. He came to give them to children whose parents are either currently serving in the Donbas, or who were killed in action. Among them is Volodymyr Lutsik. His father Oleksandr Lutsik died on the front line in 2014.
“We came here to receive gifts. When my dad died, I was four. I remember that we travelled with him a lot. For example, to the Carpathians. Mom said that my father died while defending his fellow soldiers,” Volodymyr Lutsik said.
Oleksandr Lutsik’s widow, Oksana, remembers how her husband volunteered to fight, but was killed just a few months later on Saint Nicholas Day. Every year, along with their children, the family comes to honour Lutsik’s memory here, at this military base.
“Leonid went to the frontline when he was 30 years old. It was his birthday. He fought in the town of Shchastya and was killed in Lysychansk when he fell on a grenade. I think that people like him should make it into history. So many people were killed there! And they had children at home,” Oksana Lutsik said.
The soldiers showed off their training in tactical battle as well as their military equipment.
“The brigade has been serving the Ukrainian people and defending it since 1992. On the night of April 12th 2014, this very brigade marched through the territory occupied by illegal armed groups from Luhansk to Sloviansk,” First Deputy of the Council of national security and defence of Ukraine, Mykhailo Koval said.
The paratroopers of the 80th brigade are known for defending the Luhansk Airport for five months. They also fought to liberate Sloviansk, Heorhiivka, Krasne and Peremozhne. Since 2014, more than 100 soldiers from the brigade have been killed while defending Ukraine.
