Now even those who don’t want to have to fight, describes an elite Ukrainian commander

I was expecting a major Russian aggression, I warned a long time ago that Ukraine must prepare and arm itself, says elite Ukrainian commander Bohdan Matkivskyj in an interview for Aktuálně.cz. He was one of the first volunteers who left in the spring of 2014 to fight in the Donbass against the Russians and pro-Russian separatists, he also served as a member of parliament, and since the beginning of the invasion in February last year, he has been fighting on the front again.

In the interview, Matkivskyj describes that pre-war life is already something distant for him, of which only memories remain. “Since the beginning of the invasion, I defended Kiev for the first weeks, then we moved to the east, where I fought in many places on the front. From February 2022, it’s as if I forgot a little about my former life. Now I live for the army, for the army, for victory. That date for me, there is a big divide and a dividing line,” the national guard commander describes.

Matkivskyi warned long ago that Ukraine must prepare and arm itself, because one day what happened on February 24, 2022 will happen. ” he adds.

According to him, the situation ten years ago, when the conflict broke out in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine, is completely different today. Now the enemy is much stronger and bigger, he claims. “The war is tougher, every person has to take more responsibility,” the officer tells Aktuálně.cz. The conversation, conducted via the Telegram social network, had to be postponed several times, because Matkivskyj could not join due to a transfer to the front or directly due to the fighting.

During the protests in Kyiv’s Maidan Square in 2013, he acted as the commander of the protesters’ defense units.
Later, he became the commander of one of the regiments of the National Guard, in which volunteers fought in 2014 in Donbass.
In the years 2014 to 2019, he was also a member of the Ukrainian Parliament for the Civic Position party.
Since the beginning of the Russian aggression in February 2022, he fought and continues to fight on many sections of the front.
He was born in 1980 in Truskavets near Lviv.

Photo: Bohdan Matkivský’s Facebook

Ukrainian commander praises $61 billion in US aid, saying new ammunition and military equipment will enable his men to better confront the occupiers. He is only sorry that the Ukrainians had to wait so long. “American aid is a big change. Unfortunately, we had to wait about five months for it. During that time, the enemy advanced and many of our soldiers died,” he says. The aid was blocked by the Republican leadership of the US House of Representatives for several months.

In February, the Russians captured Avdijivka and subsequently several villages near it. Since the beginning of the year, they have apparently gained an area of more than five hundred square kilometers in the east of the country. A veteran and one of the first volunteers, Matkivskyj adds that Ukraine can no longer rely only on volunteers.

“Many volunteers signed up in 2022, we had a strong and capable army, but we are no longer enough with them alone. We have to mobilize, even if it is difficult and complicated for the parliament and the government. But we have a strong enemy against us, who will do anything, in order to defeat us, for example, he also uses forbidden weapons,” he describes.

According to him, mobilization as such has been ongoing since the beginning of the war, but now it must be more effective in terms of the number of recruited soldiers and training. “Of course, volunteers are the most effective soldiers, because they are proactive, they are interested in fighting and improving themselves. But as I say, we can no longer avoid deploying even those people who have not shown interest themselves,” Matkivskyj is convinced.

Last month, the Ukrainian parliament adopted a new law on mobilization, which should provide the army with up to 500,000 people. Currently, approximately 900,000 servicemen and women serve in the armed forces there, and according to estimates, Russia has 514,000 individuals in arms in the occupied territories of Ukraine. Despite the failures of recent months, however, according to Matkivskyi, morale on the Ukrainian side is not declining.

“We are building a large fortification, which has been worked on before, but now very intensively. We will do everything to stop the aggressor. We will fight at any cost. Such a decision was made by Ukraine earlier and is still valid. We will not stop defending ourselves under any circumstances,” he adds resolutely.