The first days of the war. 24.02.2022. Zozulya Yuriy

The first day of the war was a shock. The whole day felt like in a fog, and everyone was unable to comprehend the surrealism around us.

Panic among family members and uncertainty about what to do next.

Missile attacks, saboteurs, queues for food and fuel.

Many people fled to the west, while others hid in the suburbs of Kyiv.

I am a military aviation engineer, and my place is at the Vasylkiv and Boryspil airfields.

Where I was already in 2015.

But in the first days of a full-scale war, the airfields were destroyed by rocket strikes, and the question of producing aircraft was no longer even on the table.

So the only way remained - the territorial defense of Kyiv.

For a former military member, it’s very hard to feel that he has no weapon and ammunition.

Thank God, I had hunting weapons, sniper Self-loading Simonov carbine rifles and smoothbore firearms.

A couple of pistols.

When we arrived at the territorial defense, we saw a long line of people eager to join.

And we were also added to the waiting list and they told us that they would call us back.

So, to avoid waiting, we decided to self-organize on our own.

We organized a unit made up of park security personnel and enlisted military friends.

I  obtained a weapon—9 AKS rifles. However, the situation regarding ammunition was worse.

At that time, sabotage groups began their activities in the Obolon and Desnyansky districts.

And work began on their detention.

Assistance to the Territorial Defense in patrolling, detaining saboteurs, securing the area, and combat tactics around the 'X-park' territory.

And also patrolling the residential area of 'Voskresensky Gardens.'

- We patrol the park area.

Through which unwanted guests can visit us.

I'm patrolling on this super cool vehicle.

I recommend you also to use new technologies during the war.

Besides securing and patrolling the park, since our 'X-park' is located near a strategic facility—the 'Northern Bridge' and the highway, we decided to make 70 Molotov cocktails - "Bendera smoothie", we organized an ambush around the Desnyansky Bridge to intercept enemy columns.

- This is a strategic transport artery.

The bridge that crosses the "Desenka" river.

If a column falls here on either side, this artery needs to be narrowed

And here is our place, where your "Pina Colada" is already waiting for you.

From two sides.

- Lyosha, which cocktails do you like to make more? With "Becherivka" or with "Jägermeister"?

Or do you prefer champagne?

You have a huge bar here man.

And at that moment, we realized for the first time that in the absence of coordination,

from our own people, a bullet in the back can come faster than from the enemy.

- Show me where those three points of fire are.

- Here is one. Here is another. And here is the third one.

Fortunately, all three bullets hit the area protected by the bulletproof vest.

Never would have thought that our Tundra car, which belongs to our sports federation,

would be so useful for us to patrol the city, and would also be used to store firearms here, and to fire through the rear window.

Unfortunately the window needs to be broken, but after the victory we will fix it anyway.

What a beauty!

And we can reinforce the protection on the sides as well. It's a super vehicle for war.

The best one!

At that time, we received information from scouts that saboteurs would come from the left bank.

We looked at the map and realized that it is more convenient for helicopters to land on the fields.

- Well, we received a signal that a sabotage and reconnaissance group may appear somewhere around the park, and they want to land on the left bank,

in reality, they landed a little above our park 'Muromets,' but that's not confirmed yet.

So now we are driving around and searching.

Maybe we will find some landmark.

Everyone is in their place, doing their small part.

The main dream at the moment is to destroy at least one or two enemies.

- Better five

- Better five, yes.

"Shaka" to everyone!

And from there, along the island, the enemy can easily access the bridge directly from the park.

Moreover, the bridge is located right in the middle of Kyiv.

We created a patrol and during the survey of the park, we found that in a distant field, where we previously wanted to hold the "Atlas Weekend" festival, someone cut down trees and created a perfect landing area for five to seven helicopters.

- There is a small bridge here, but the main bridge is a bit further.

I checked everything there. There is no one and nothing on the horizon.

- Even if they landed here, they probably wouldn't go down this path.

- They can land further on the island, but there is a very narrow bridge.

 In possibility , they can pass that way.

Moreover, someone painted fluorescent markers on the field, which make it easy to find the way to the park and the main 'Northern' bridge.

- Probably we can find someone here today.

By the way, this was drawn recently. Because after the snow it would disappear.

And also drawn with fluorescent chalk.

Look, there have been so many rains and snows. The markings should have faded away.

This marker is definitely fresh.

And the marker points showing the only path to the bridge that connects the upper part of the park with the southern part.

So maybe someone actually decided to wander here.

- Look, Oleksii. The marker is painted again with the same paint, do you see it?!

And again you can see that the paint is fresh.

If the mark had been painted before winter, the paint wouldn't stain the finger as easily as chalk, you know?

- Fresh?

- Fresh.

- It must be removed. The knife is in the car, I have to take it.

- Let's cover the mark with dirt.

- Dirt won't help, we have to cut it with a knife.

- All this markers leads directly to the city.

- These are definitely marks for the enemy, everything leads to the main bridge, to the city.

And fresh paint again. Damn.

- Cover it with leaves. 

Well, the curfew will start soon, it's time to go back.

First the dirt, and then the leaves on top.

Now we can hear a cannonade.

Probably, our soldiers are already fighting there.

We started smearing mud marks on the bridge, paths and trees.

But there were a lot of markers.

Therefore, we decided to wait for the guests at the exit from the park.

- One more. And everything leads to the bridge.

- But we don't have enough time to remove them, so we check where the marks lead.

And here for some reason are two marks...

We agreed with the police and the military on the bridge.

The military has deployed additional air defense systems on the other bank of the river.

The next day, we heard the launches of the missiles from the air defense systems.

And then we learned that two out of five helicopters had been shot down, that were flying in those area which we checked earlier.

We would like to think that this is not just a coincidence.

- What does Oleksiy do while waiting for the offensive. Do you play games?

- I'm reading.

- Everyone Shaka!

War is a war, but "Penguins" and hardening in cold water according to the schedule.

We have prepared a cocktail bar for the aggressor and the occupier.

It will be a big festival.

And here’s our lonely ice hole. We'll fix it now.

Even the ice hasn't melted yet.

We will never give our ice hole to anyone. We will not let anyone unauthorized in here.

So, enemy, we are ready to meet you, we have prepared a feast for you.

Shaka to everyone ! Penguins forever!

And now we continue to secure and monitor the bridge and the park.

We're fortifying the area and waiting for the enemies.

Glory to Ukraine!

 Yuriy Zozulya (businessman, philanthropist, public figure, founder and investor of Хpark, president Ukrainian Wake Federation UWF, officer)

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