Kyiv’s First Line of Defence

TVN Discover | 24min
Postproduction script

 

00:00:02,148 Reporter: -Who is it?

00:00:03,641 Kolya: A diversion. At least it looks like one.

00:00:07,186 Soldier: -A Soviet-recruited son of a bitch.

00:00:11,568 Wowa interview: My name is Volodymyr Bigun. I'm the commander of the seventh rota of Kyiv's territorial defence. They call me Wowa. I command about a hundred people

00:00:24,620 VO: Diversionaries are one of the greatest threats to Wowa and his men. The Russians are constantly sending new agents to spy on the city's defenders. Numerous inspections and arrests happen daily in the suburbs of Kyiv.

00:00:38,718 Wowa: -Good morning. What is your name?

00:00:42,331 Man: -Igor.

00:00:44,538 Wowa: -What did you do? Who recruited you? Who did you collect information for?

00:00:52,475 Man: -No!

00:00:58,038 Wowa: -Where is the phone he used to record the checkpoint?

00:01:01,494 Man: -No, no!

00:01:03,763 Wowa interview: -Our task is to keep the enemy out of Kyiv. We occupy one of the most important points of defence of the city.

00:01:14,479 Kolya: -There it is!

00:01:16,711 Wowa: -Of course.

00:01:17,964 Kolya: -There are photos.

00:01:21,473 Wowa: -Did you take these?

00:01:22,832 Man: -Yes.

00:01:23,967 Wowa: -What for? Did the Russians tell you to do it?

00:01:29,203 Man: -No.

00:01:31,597 Wowa: -And who?

00:01:32,662 Man: -No one.

00:01:33,761 Wowa: -In the church, did someone tell you to record it?

00:01:36,868 Man: -No. Wowa: -Who did?

00:01:38,518 Wowa interview: If, God forbid, the enemy attacks Kyiv, whether it be a brigade of ten units or a hundred units, we are ready.

1’58 Kyiv’s First Line of Defence

00:02:02,172 VO: Wowa's brigade is the city's first line of defence. The lives of the inhabitants and the safety of the government district depend on them. Since the outbreak of war, they have been under constant enormous pressure.

00:02:13,239 Kolya interview: -My position? Gunman. My name is Nikolai. But the brothers I'm here with call me "the mechanic".

00:02:27,620 VO: Wowa and his men are one of the many territorial defence forces. Ordinary people of Kyiv who gave up everything to defend their city. We accompanied them with the camera for several days. Kolya begins his night patrol; we go with him.

00:02:44,657 Wowa to unit: Paper plates marked with invisible signs were found at checkpoints. Some sort of ultraviolet light that glows in the dark was used. The signs were in the shape of arrows, crosses, letters. Watch out for such things. If you see any paper plates, light them and check them. Of course, you don't have to walk around looking for them, but be alert if there is a plate lying in the road.

00:03:24,084 Kolya interview: -What am I fighting for? My country.

00:03:28,563 Interviewer: -What does that mean to you - country?

00:03:31,339 Kolya interview: -My homeland. My land. My friends. My family. I want peace. I want to go to work again, in the same way I used to.

00:03:53,199 Wowa to unit: -We are securing this post. We do not fire until the first squad withdraws. We must avoid shooting our own. As long as the squad is not behind our back, we are secure. As soon as the orcs appear here, we start shooting.

00:04:13,610 VO: There is a curfew in Kyiv. Only the army is allowed to move around after dark. During the patrol, the streets are completely empty. We don't give the exact location of Wowa's company for fear that Russian services could track them down and attack them.

00:04:30,415 Kolya: -What's up, brothers? Oh, there is a change of guards. The new guards are there. It is cold today.

00:04:48,748 Man: -Password?

00:04:49,869 Kolya: -Bookshop.

00:04:51,844 Wowa interview: Kolya is someone who is always with me. He's someone that, God forbid, in the event of a dangerous situation, will stand by my side, shield me, and take me to the medic. And then the medic will do his job.

00:05:10,956 Interviewer: -What is this company to you? What is this place for you?

00:05:16,758 Kolya interview: -My squad are the people closest to me. The people I trust most. It's with them that I will have to stand shoulder to shoulder in battle. To protect, to cover one another... To try... Not even to try, but to do, so that the enemy does not pass further into our land.

00:05:44,633 Wowa: -Explosives in condoms. To keep them dry. In a bottle of cognac.

00:05:52,641 Interviewer: -To give to the Russians, right?

00:05:54,885 Wowa: -Yes, for the occupiers.

00:05:56,803 Kolya: -I wonder if our night will be quiet or lively.

00:06:00,268 Man: -There was a shooting, did you hear? A shooting, about twenty minutes ago.

00:06:08,424 Kolya: -You have to be vigilant and eyes in the back of your head. It's scary. The cold is biting your lips, isn't it?

00:06:26,673 Man: -So far, so good. It will only get colder later.

00:06:38,386 Kolya: -Alright, shall we go?

00:06:44,877 Interviewer: -When you drive through Kyiv, what do you see?

00:06:52,343 Kolya interview: -I see darkness. People are afraid. I see frightened eyes. Some girls are very afraid of the explosions. But not just them. Also older people - everyone is afraid. I am afraid too. I don’t hide it. There is no point in hiding it. I'm scared, but I'm clenching my fists. I'm patient. I have a goal. We will win. We will win anyway.

00:07:36,725 VO: After patrolling for hours, Kolya finishes his shift.

00:07:43,971 Interviewer: -Are you not hungry?

00:07:49,348 Kolya: -Bread, pork with garlic?

00:07:53,811 VO: We meet an unusual volunteer in the canteen.

00:07:58,489 Interviewer: -You are 80 years old, so you were born in the Second World War, right?

00:08:02,538 Old woman: -Yes. There were Germans here. There was their army. We survived that, and now such times have come again. So we have to survive this too.

00:08:20,449 Interviewer: -Do you help here? You are a volunteer at the age of 80?

00:08:29,148 Old woman: -Yes, I have to do something. Doing everything to help. I still can. At 80 years old I can still do something. The young people are doing something better, but I can still pour salt, I can peel potatoes.

00:08:47,603 Interviewer: -You stayed to support the territorial defence?

00:08:50,863 Old woman: -Yes, I try to help those who need it. The canteen is big, there are lots of people feed, lots to do. How can we forgive this? War cannot be forgiven. So here I am. They are young and I am old, I am trying to do something for them.

00:09:13,477 Interviewer: -Will Ukraine win?

00:09:15,680 Old woman: -Yes.

00:09:18,123 Kolya: -Friends, colleagues.

00:09:20,199 Wowa: -Good morning.

00:09:21,334 Reporter: -Good morning.

00:09:28,625 VO: Kolya retires to rest before the next patrol. More members of Wowa's company go out to their posts.

00:09:35,993 Iryna interview: -My name is Iryna. I am a medical worker in the territorial defence of Kyiv. Here they call me variously: Ira, Irchick, Mrs Iryna, sometimes Iryska. In my ordinary life I worked as a project manager for a large media organisation. In my spare time I did volunteer work for a company called 'Motohelp'. I rode in a first aid ambulance.

00:10:12,955 Wowa interview: -I asked her, "Will you stay with us?" She said, "Will you let me?" I said, "Of course, you are already with us. Write an application and we'll accept you."

00:10:22,786 Iryna interview: When the war broke out, I joined the territorial defence as a first aid instructor. Our boys were given first aid kits, but many of them had no idea how to use them, how to put on a tourniquet, what the kit contained.

00:10:40,042 Wowa interview: A very good medic came to us. Recruiting her to our unit was a great surprise and even a stroke of luck for us.

00:10:55,001 VO: Iryna is one of 30,000 Ukrainian women who are fighting the Russians on the front line.

00:11:00,535 Interviewer: -Do you remember the day it all started? Do you have clear memories of it?

00:11:06,533 Iryna interview: -I went out on the balcony and heard explosions. I woke up my husband, told him we had to pack up and run away.

00:11:18,800 Interviewer: -You are a medic. How do you figure picking up a gun and shooting someone?

00:11:24,493 Iryna interview: -I do not feel sorry for people who attack and bomb maternity hospitals, shooting families and people who have never seen a gun in their lives, and have nothing to do with it. My hand will not twitch when I shoot them. The worst thing for me would be to see loved ones die. To be honest, the people I live with now they are now very close to me too, so to see something happen to them during the war would be the worst thing for me. And the best? I don't know what could be the best thing here. Probably if the war ended as soon as possible and we were victorious.

00:12:28,114 Interviewer: -Would you be prepared to save the lives of wounded Russians the way that you save the lives of your own men?

00:12:42,500 Iryna interview: -I'm not sure about that. Honestly, I'm not sure about that. Okay, very honestly, no, I'm not prepared to work for them as much as for my own.

00:13:00,485 Interviewer: -Is your husband coming today?

00:13:03,152 Iryna: -Husband? He already came. He brought me warm and clean clothes, a book, glasses. This book is just for me.

00:13:27,305 VO: Many Ukrainians working in Poland returned home after the outbreak of war to fight the Russian invaders. One of them is Wiktoria.

00:13:39,073 Interviewer: -What did you do in Poland?

00:13:40,959 Wiktoria interview: -I lived, worked and studied.

00:13:43,786 Interviewer: -What did you study?

00:13:45,560 Wiktoria interview: -I studied occupational therapy, which means I can become a rehabilitation therapist.

00:13:59,508 VO: Wiktoria is a veteran of the war in Donbass.

00:14:02,767 Interviewer: 0-How did it happen that you're now in Kyiv?

00:14:05,490 Wiktoria: -I came to Kyiv. I did not manage to get to my hometown because there was fierce fighting there. So I stayed in Kyiv and joined the territorial defence. I am a machine gunner. And now my skills are needed.

00:14:25,000 Wowa interview: -Everyone here has a character and a past. Here everyone is equal under my leadership. At this point, everyone has become close to me, like brothers.

00:14:42,251 Wiktoria: -My sons also defend our country. I am proud of them. I have two sons and one daughter. My daughter is young. She stayed in Poland.

00:14:58,718 Interviewer: -It must be hard to shoot a person.

00:15:02,295 Wiktoria: -Everyone who is in front of my viewfinder has parents, they are all a son or a daughter. If a person has come to my house and is threatening my life, and the life of my family, he is an enemy. If they come to me to drink tea, they are guests in my house. But if they come with weapons, they are enemies. I am not shooting at a person, I am shooting at an enemy.

00:15:40,383 Interviewer: -One more question: where is this band from?

00:15:45,814 Wiktoria: -It is a wristband from Donbass. I received it from volunteers. Fortunately, I never needed it. That was in 2016. I never used it and so I consider it a 'lucky wristband', which is why I have it here. I am sorry that these children will not go home to their mothers. I am very sorry, but I did not send them here, I did not invite them here.

00:16:35,744 Man: -Glory to Ukraine!

00:16:39,161 VO: Wowa's unit is going on another patrol. We cannot film the patrol route so as not to indicate our position to the Russians. There are few cars in the streets. Every now and then we come across more barricades and checkpoints.

00:16:53,630 Soldier: -Who are you? Man: -We're Ukrainian!

00:16:57,774 VO: Wowa's unit hides heavy equipment for the defence of the city in a secret location.

00:17:02,018 Wowa: -We keep it in a safe place. This baby is firing eighty shells a day at the Russian occupiers.

00:17:13,380 Interviewer: -This is anti-tank weapon?

00:17:15,456 Wowa: -Anti-personnel. Caliber?

00:17:18,056 Man: -122.

00:17:20,314 Interviewer: -Are you preparing for war?

00:17:22,158 Wowa: -Yes.

00:17:25,680 VO: At a nearby checkpoint we meet a special squad of Wowa's unit.

00:17:30,340 Man: Father and son - winners. We will be victorious. Ukraine will be free.

00:17:41,453 Man 2: -Ukraine above all. Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!

00:17:51,124 Wowa interview: -I am sure that we are ready to support each other in a fight. And to help each other. I have no doubt that each of them will accomplish the tasks that will be assigned to them.

00:18:09,600 VO: Wowa manages to plan his patrol route in such a way as to visit his loved ones, at least for a short while.

00:18:16,480 Wowa: -Hello. Zhenia: -Hello.

00:18:19,624 Wowa: -How are you?

00:18:21,009 Jehor: -I'm fine.

00:18:22,668 Wowa: -Come to me, doggy. He's a biter. Mischievous.

00:18:29,871 Man: -And right into your hands.

00:18:36,804 Wowa: -Show how you prepared molotov cocktails. Don't run.

00:18:42,663 VO: The reality of war has the greatest impact on children. An entire generation experiences an unimaginable situation, including Wowa's children.

00:18:50,767 Wowa’s father: -This is what my children did, my grandchildren. We are preparing to storm Kyiv.

00:18:58,238 Interviewer: -Did the children prepare them? Wowa’s father: -Yes.

00:19:00,507 Interviewer: -Did you prepare it? Jehor: -Yes. A neighbour brought a burner.

00:19:10,169 Wowa: -How's it going? Jehor: -Fine.

00:19:16,358 Wowa: -Children, show the man where you hide when rockets are falling.

00:19:30,718 Interviewer: -Is this where you are hiding? Diana: -Yes.

00:19:33,668 Interviewer: -Often?

00:19:35,103 Diana: -Yeah, we even sleep here, we have beds.

00:19:41,696 Interviewer: -What is your name? Diana: -My name is Diana.

00:19:44,115 Interviewer: -How old are you? Diana: -Eleven.

00:19:46,669 Interviewer: -And you?

00:19:47,835 Jehor: -Jehor, seven years old.

00:19:50,614 Diana: -Here I sleep, next to my mother, here my brother, and here my grandmother sleeps. Before, we used to run to the shelter at two in the morning. But now they have arranged a place for us to sleep so we don't have to run around at night and we can get some sleep.

00:20:09,125 Interviewer: Do you often go outside, for a walk?

00:20:12,354 Jehor: -No. At most twice a week we go for a walk. Diana: -We go out sometimes when Grandpa is making molotov cocktails. We can go for a bit of a run during that time. We also go out with our mum to walk our dog Laki. Then we can run and play with him.

00:20:38,867 Jehor to dog: -Laki.

00:20:44,272 Zhenia: -My name is Zhenia Bigun.

00:20:47,073 Interviewer: -How often do you manage to talk face to face?

00:20:53,883 Zhenia: -Once every few days. But it doesn't always work out that way. It's literally five minutes here and there. Just: Hello-Hello, and that's it.

00:21:04,104 Jehor: -Dad, one more thing. You forgot the password.

00:21:07,073 Wowa: -Russian warship?

00:21:08,458 Jehor: -Get out of here!

00:21:12,183 Interviewer: -Do you miss him?

00:21:14,100 Wowa’s mother: -Of course I do. He's my child, my little boy.

00:21:19,897 Interviewer: -Don't worry, the guys look out for each other.

00:21:22,547 Wowa’s mother: -They support each other and that's the most important thing.

00:21:29,874 Zhenia: -Take care.

00:21:32,182 Interviewer: -What kind of husband is he?

00:21:34,081 Zhenia: -He is a very good husband. He is brave, courageous. I feel safe behind his back. I know he will never let me down, I know he will solve all my problems. When he is next to me, I feel that everything will be fine.

21’40 Source: Private archive

00:21:55,075 Wowa’s mother: -Just come back!

00:21:58,883 Interviewer: -If you were to go into battle this minute, what would you say to your family?

00:22:05,857 Wowa interview: -I would say that I'm quiet, calm, that I'll be fine. I would like to say to the mothers and fathers of the Russian soldiers. Take them home. Alive and without blood on their hands. Because they, consciously or unconsciously, kill civilians, children, pregnant women, rape, loot. They are monsters for life already. Leave our country, better alive than dead. Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the people and death to the enemies.

00:23:05,360 VO: Wowa's unit are at their post all the time: defending Kyiv, their city, their freedom and ours.