Illustrated by Vlad Korniuk
A 44-year-old Andriy Fomenko last held an assault rifle at school in pre-draft training lessons for young men, but now he has taken it again, defending his native Sumy as part of the military defense. The city is surrounded by Russian troops and is on the verge of a humanitarian disaster.
Andriy has lived in Vietnam for the last ten years where he had a tourism business. Because of the pandemic, revenues fell to almost zero so in September last year Andriy returned to Sumy. Here his IT education came to mind: together with his wife Anna he created and promoted websites. They had a dream – to buy a small land plot but the war had crossed out all the plans.
“In the early days of the war we were shocked and disoriented. Disinformation was terrifying – it was written everywhere that Sumy and other cities of Ukraine were already captured, that the Russian flag was already over our city hall, that the Ukrainian authorities surrendered and there were fights in the center of Sumy. It was written that Russian troops had already entered Kyiv. There were a lot of fakes, we did not know whom to believe” – recalls Andriy.
On the third day, Andriy enrolled in the territorial defense forces. “At least you do something here, and you understand more of what is really happening,” – Andriy explains. Previously, he did not serve in the army for health reasons.
“A military ticket says that I am not eligible for military service in peacetime. There are many in the territorial defense forces who are not eligible for service for health or age, there is even a 61-year-old man in our unit. The volunteers from 20-year-olds to pensioners – they all have come here,” – Andriy says.
Those volunteers who are more experienced in military business patrol the area and participate in battles. Volunteers like Andriy defend the city, stand on checkpoints and catch saboteurs. “I was instructed, I learned how to assemble and disassemble the machine. I can stand on checkpoints and defend the city and that is quite enough for now,” Andriy says.
On March 3 an enemy missile flew into the barracks where Andriy slept. The window panels had been knocked out and a piece of glass hit Andriy’s eyebrow. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured and no one was killed. The next day the substation was bombed in Sumy – there was no light and no mobile communication in the south, but then the infrastructure was restored.
Currently, only elite cheeses, sweets and tea remain in stores. The local bakery bakes bread. Cereals, canned food, meat, vegetables, fruits, dairy products have not been available for several days – people need to use what they had stored before the war started. Food and medicine cannot be delivered.
There is a shortage of medicines and many hours of queues in pharmacies. According to Andriy, personal food supplies of Sumy will last for one more week, and then a humanitarian disaster can begin. Public transport in the city does not function, there is no gasoline, most gas stations are closed, so the roads are empty, and people move around the city on foot or by bicycle. Russian troops are terrorizing citizens, being unable to capture Sumy, by firing on private houses on the outskirts of the city. Also, there are enemy planes constantly flying above the city.
On March 8, the city of Sumy organized a “green corridor” to evacuate civilians: the first column of civilians could leave, the second one was shelled by Russian troops.
All these days, Andriy’s wife Anna had been sitting in the basement almost all the time, because the air-raid sirens were constantly heard in the city. Andriy saw her once in three or four days, asking to leave the service merely for a few hours. Eventually, Andriy managed to put his wife on an evacuation bus, leaving the surrounding city. Andriy is staying there.
“Regardless of anything, I do not regret that we returned to Ukraine – my wife had to see her elderly parents,” says Andriy. – “We are not yet building any plans for the future, but I am sure that Ukraine will win. Even if Russia manages to seize some territories, it will not hold them for long. Hatred for Russians throughout the country is huge, nobody is waiting for them here.”
