The Ukrainian counteroffensive is advancing slowly in southern Ukraine and, alongside the fierce battles, rarely provides comic moments.
That is what happened today to Sergeant Valery Marcus, who uploaded a video from somewhere on the Zaporizhzhia front. Marcus – a well-known traveler, author and blogger – said that in the last 24 hours his unit had made significant progress and went into detail about the night he and his friends had been through. Many videos show Ukrainian soldiers from the fronts, but Marcos' self-documentation has been particularly respected.
Sergeant Marcos' Telegram channel
Shortly after the raise, it was responded by none other than the Ukrainian chief of staff himself, Valery Zaluzhny. In a response posted from his personal account, Zaluzhny remarked to Marcus that he was on the contact line but without a helmet and bulletproof vest.
Zaluzani's response: "Valerie! Dress in the rocket. Snatch from me",
"Valerie! Immediately get dressed! You'll snatch from me already!" wrote Zaluzhny, garnering thousands of comments. Marcos, who gained combat experience during the events of 2014-2015 in Donbass, responded with "At your command!"
General Zaluzhny. Considered a star in Ukraine, Photo: AP
General Zaluzhny made an unusual name for himself both in his command abilities and in his humane approach and accessibility. For example, about a month and a half ago, a documentary about his war year was broadcast in Ukraine. In one segment, he told the interviewer that he could not erase the names of fallen colleagues and acquaintances from his phone book. "I guess I'm not ready for that yet. Sometime I might do that, I'll keep an entry out of the phone book forever, but not from my heart. It's very difficult. To all normal people, it looks very, very bad... War is bad, very bad business." He was also asked if he had cried during the war. "Well... As commander-in-chief, I would not want to admit any weaknesses, but I will say again: I am a man," Zaluzhny replied. "I cried once when a mother was looking for her son, a helicopter pilot, who was on the line to Mariupol. When I still corresponded with her, there was hope that he was alive. At one point, they reported to me that he had fallen, and... I had to... (Here Zaluzhny repeatedly stifles tears) clarify the situation in a conversation with his mother because she just sent me a text message that she received from her son, who wrote to her before takeoff to remember him as a patriot. I tried to explain [to her], but I couldn't resist it."
Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov told the Financial Times on Monday that the nine settlements Ukraine has liberated since the beginning of the month are only the first phase of the counteroffensive. "This is not the main event planned in the attack," he added. "When it happens, everyone will see." According to him, most Ukrainian brigades have not yet been put into the campaign, including those trained in the West.
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