Ukrainian Diary: A Sheep for a Mobilized – Culture

On Friday morning I’m sitting on the train to Frankfurt and chatting with my acquaintances from Zaporizhia and Mykolaiv after reading the depressing night and morning news. O. from Zaporizhia writes: “Supposedly 28 dead in the convoy, but there are still many more. There is a crowd of people there”. I ask why people are going to the occupied territory. It’s actually going to Vasylivka, O’s home town. “Many have relatives there. For others it’s a small business, they transport goods, you can send packages for a fee, I myself send food for my cats from time to time. What I do “But I can’t understand: Why do you risk traveling with children. Apparently you can negotiate with the Russians at the checkpoints, but some commuters are already missing.”

O. herself is longingly waiting for her hometown to be liberated and, after a stopover in Chernivtsi, lives in Zaporizhia. In the meantime, the trained social worker has completed a course as a men’s hairdresser, which an entrepreneur from Chernivtsi donated to her. Now she regularly does the haircuts of “our boys” in the military hospital, sometimes I get photos of their instruments or “boys” photographed from behind. She also talks to her “customers” in a psychotherapeutic way. My small personal participation in their work consists in buying men’s perfumes and sending them to O. when I’m in Germany. According to her statement, the boys are happy about it, they even supposedly recognize that it is the “original scent”.

My O. from Mykolaiv reports about the addition to her family of three cats, she took home a stray little kitten. It was called “Elka-119” – in honor of the L-119 howitzer, which is operated by her husband M. M. was drafted a few months ago, recently he was allowed to go home for two days. “He has changed a lot, externally and internally,” writes O. and sends a photo. I really wouldn’t have recognized M., who picked up relief supplies from us a few times when he lived with O. and her sister near Chernivtsi in the spring. I ask if they need anything.

The families of the mobilized men in the Russian Republic of Tuva are given a sheep as a gift

O. is currently looking for military tourniquets and tactical vests. We can’t help out with vests, but tourniquets donated by our colleagues from Amberg-Weiden should still be there. I am writing S. My thoughts bless the inventors of the Internet, which enables communication in a matter of seconds. In fact, we still have some, S. promises to get them to the post office quickly. He would have to go there anyway because he still wants to send things that we collected for a field hospital in Druzhkivka: Our well-known paramedic R asked for used trousers and jackets for the wounded who are staying in the hospital for a short time. In addition, a few packs of good coffee , for which our thanks go to the artist from Berlin Helga von L., who sends it regularly for our “admirable army”. And some dry fuel, a larger shipment of which another friend from Chernivtsi and Ukraine brought Christian H. from Heilbronn. Much of the non-earmarked private donations in kind go to those thanks to whom we can live and operate in the hinterland.

Then I read the news again. When I hear a report, I have to laugh: “The families of the mobilized men in the People’s Republic of Tuva are given a sheep”. Ukrainksa Pravda is an absolutely serious news portal, but I google it and actually find the information on several Russian news sites. It is advantageous to know the language of the enemy. The local authorities were instructed to provide material assistance to the affected families. Vegetables, wood and coal are also included in the “aid package”.

Lastly, because by no means all households in Russia have a gas connection, as some in western Europe would assume. According to the Kremlin Ria Novosti 72 percent of private households were gasified by the end of 2021 (as of January 12, 2022). Now, it seems, the rest of those waiting decades stand a good chance that the process will be significantly accelerated. In any case, we keep our fingers crossed for them. The People’s Republic of Tuva is located in Siberia and borders on Mongolia. The majority of the population is Buddhist and shamanistic, mutton is an important food.

“A sheep for a mobilized,” says the message. So the rate is 1:1, a human life and a sheep life seem to be equal. But of course there is also the chance to make a great career: Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who comes from Tuva, has at least made it.

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