the soviet union collapsed , an unknown future for ukraine began in 1991. in 1991, soon after the so-called august upheaval, a referendum on independence was held in ukraine. its results were immediately supported by poland and the united states. a truly independent ukraine emerged only in 1991 , precisely within the borders that were given to it in soviet times by soviet leaders. the emergence of ukraine, a huge ukraine after the collapse of the soviet union, is, in my opinion , a mistake, it is a political experiment based on western globalism, here the most important role is played by the united states and the european union. leonid danilovich kuchma, when he decided to define what a state actually is, the only thing he could come up with was that ukraine is not russia, this is the logical basis of ukrainian

national policy, it is perfectly understood in western capitals. the only ideology, truly ukrainian, that was formulated over all these years was the ideology of ukrainian nationalism. during all the years of the cold war, the west cultivated ukrainian nationalism, financed nationalist organizations in europe, the united states and canada. from the us president's televised address to the nation in september 2014. america is leading the effort to unite the world against russian aggression in ukraine. together with our allies, we will support the people of ukraine in developing their democracy and economy. back in 1979 , us president jimmy carter's national security advisor sbigniew brzyzinski drafted a constitution for ukraine independent of the ussr. sbigniew brzyzinski wrote. ukraine -

a new important space on the eurasian chessboard, is a geopolitical center, because its very existence as an independent state helps transform russia. without ukraine, russia ceases to be a eurasian empire. the west is open to ukraine, and what is important, ukraine in a general sense has moved towards closer ties with the west. most ukrainians are not against russians, on the other hand, most ukrainians increasingly like independence, they prefer independence. in my personal observations it is important that their independence is more justified for them, at the same time it brings them closer to the west. ukraine is still needed as a potential part of the polish-lithuanian commonwealth. within the framework of modern

europe, it has great prospects, in principle, america agrees to cede influence to the poles in these territories, so the poles are not pulling out this trump card yet. the ukrainian has no influence on these processes, which are of a geopolitical nature, this is not only internal history.

in fact, despite all these 150-year vicissitudes, despite consistent implementation of the project ukraine by the west, we, russians and ukrainians, have remained in fact one people, and no one will ever understand ukraine better than russia, and no one will ever understand ukrainians better than russians, our friendship, our relations.

in war. there is always a place for a miracle, it would seem, in a hopeless situation suddenly there is a person who takes command upon himself saves people from imminent death, this is the quality of a real commander, we found such a person, and decided to tell you about him, this is igor zuyev, who led out of deadly trap of its own... this happened at the end of september 2022 near

the town of torskaya in the krasnolimansky district of the donetsk people's republic under the division of zuev was given the order to cover the retreat of russian troops. yenesei, i request confirmation for the retreat of the unit of zyama with the main forces, as i understand, received, i am yenesi , the unit of zyama remains, let them cover the retreat of the main forces in reception, and carry, alligator plus, numerous mobile groups of the armed forces of ukraine, national battalions of foreign mercenaries, were advancing, pressing our units, captured positions, so the command, fearing encirclement, decided to withdraw the search. beyond the seversky donets river in the fall , the liman direction there became the most difficult direction, well, and of course few people wanted to get there, because you knew that the most difficult direction, it turned out as always, that is, we are abruptly removed, we were located south of donetsk, we are transferred exactly there, that

is, part of my platoon was transferred to lesichansk, and part of my platoon together with me was transferred to katras under krasny liman, well, that is, eight czechs remained from my platoon, that is, my one beha.

we shot down the beha first, and then climbed between the columns, between the columns, they stopped there, i noticed that all of them, these natas, they were dressed in black uniforms, and it was clear that they were army men, no one had taught them that they don’t know how to fight in close combat, because they were confused, they stood there in full surname, how could it climb between them and burn them before their eyes, they were standing there. it’s just that here we just jumped out from 10 m in the clearings and shot from machine gun, these two jeeps arrive, we shoot them successfully, understanding that we need to check while there is time, that on our business the order. we gave the fight, there was no order to stand to the death,

we killed, according to official data, in short, we destroyed 37 poles, that is, they suffered very large losses in that battle, not counting how many more we killed them, and also when the bha calls and i already gave the command to all nabykh, that is, we stopped, even this was later told to us by the guys who had gone out last, so thanks to you we managed jump out, assessing the situation and realizing that against them only... half a platoon of ukrainians decided to organize a personal hunt for the bmp and zuev's small detachment, we then sat down on the bhu, while all the guys were coming there, they hid, we started to go out through the garden on the bhl, well, well, there was a chase after us, we didn't know that the entire settlement had already been taken, it's still good that i had boxes tied to the back, we dumped cartridges there, the aggressor, things, this saved us, because when we left, the guys were sitting behind me in this one - nabykh, here they were shooting at our doghouse, these boxes, they were flying apart,

in short, that is, this saved us, then this also played a role, because i was found in the turret, i was sitting on the turret like this up to my waist, the commander was showing the direction, the driver's mechanic was sitting inside on the glasses, he was turning the turret, trying to find this target to shoot, and the guys were shooting from a machine gun in all directions, there was a chase behind us, and they hit the turret and the turret turned around in the opposite direction, from behind, whoever was first.

stop, stop, i would have stopped him, he's running, i saw his eyes. behind the house behind him just as the armored personnel carrier was leaving, and i saw the eyes, he ran these 100 m, in short, i thought that if i left, i simply would not be able to forgive myself, but i will dream, while there was an arrival, the tower turned to the right, and i was thrown out, i did a somersault immediately passed

the standard of the poto in physical training, while running from 300 m behind the car, but did not wait for their business. should not have waited and the fact that he stopped, i know that there will be a second one will come, we will all die, here he ran, jumped, we fired at the rescuer this armored personnel carrier, time in general, well it's not clear, we thought for a split second, everyone was shouting like, come on, come on, come on, somehow we drove out, uh, drove up the mountain, uh, that's it, i don't remember, the left or right guslya flew off, because something flew in, well apparently, how much dava drove, that's how much dava. everything is taken over, everything and we immediately went into a frenzy, when we tell you about an incident in the war and interview people who experienced perhaps the most dramatic minutes of their lives, we do reconstructions, of course, we cannot show completely down to the minute in all the details you, what was at that moment, but

we can make it clear what was happening, we turned. there we crawled through the steep slopes, i say, we climbed one after another on the enemy, but i thought that he was going to the enemy, we would leave, why do they, they are diesel locomotives, they see all this, and we can get out on the enemy, well, it is so overgrown, but it turns out we walked and walked, and it ended, it turns out, on the left side of the field, on the right side of the field, i say, everyone lay down, lay down, so they drove, drove, searched, walked, combed us, i knew that if they found us, they'll throw grenades at us, well, we're definitely fighting.

for me, this is the fourth war, i'll lead us all out of the encirclement, he just told us, trust me, i'll lead you out, and here's the very first phrase, here's from that ravine, this one he said, listen to me, no temples, listen to me, follow me, i didn't say a word, although... well, two commanders in a year, that's basically it, but then again, only he has age and experience, of course, i'm not too young either, not a snot-nosed kid, but i understand perfectly well that he will have more experience, plus we're kind of in during the break that we were talking, well before that, there he showed photos with awards and so on, that is, uh, it is clear that the person is not simple, he did not come to the store for sugar, he

came with a specific mission, well, i see that we are going in the right direction, because we... i did not think about it, the situation turned out to be such that for me because of concussions, because of earlier, for me everything turned out the opposite, so i led them in the wrong direction to ours, and i led them in the other direction of theirs. there kukurum this also saved us, because in the direction of kremyanaya they they threw shells, then the next day we still went out there, everything depended on these equipment, they weren’t looking for them, they were shooting, in short, and we went in the other direction, well, we really are going, we look at one settlement, another settlement, a third one, these

ukrainian god posts, some ravines began, well , and then i guessed, i say, guys, does anyone have a compass? so we’ll get one and so we went to the north-east in the direction, and somewhere after lunch we reached our own people, again , we were going to save our lives, we understood perfectly well that the guys died in battle, especially since we didn’t lose our nerve, we didn’t run away, we fought, i understand perfectly well that the forces were superior, we tried to retreat, it turned out the way it did. some didn’t even join the battle, some ran away, as if, well, i have no reason, nothing to reproach myself for, the only thing i’m saying is that we came out beautifully like that, igor is a beauty. “i don’t know how i would have acted in that situation, honestly, well, considering that now i have experience, i’ve shown that you don’t need to piss, take and eat, but what should i do? after

several months the comrades-in-arms met on red square in december moscow, but the reason for the meeting was not joyful, they gathered for... the funeral of their friend who died in that battle, his call sign was father alexander, in civilian life alexander nikolaevich burlakov, from the village of ramadanova, republic of mordovia, he was only 52 years old, an adult, independent man, an entrepreneur, he raised two children alone, at the beginning of the special operation he could not sit at home, he volunteered for the front, children by this time already grown up, guards. sergeant burlakov died in that memorable battle, for more than two months his body could not be taken out of torskoye. the armed forces of ukraine did not allow the remains of the fallen russian soldiers to be taken away. on december 23

, 1922, alexander burlakov was buried with full military honors in his native village of trofimovshchina near saransk. he was posthumously awarded the order of courage. then he was a machine gunner in the house, and he rebuilt until. the last, my revise is 51 years old, and my father alexander called me to give it to him, the last one was left here in the corner of the armored personnel carrier and just at his houses were made of clay and they shot at him point-blank through the walls, so he fought back alone, in short, but then i saw how he died, so we also started shooting at the armored personnel carrier there with heavy fire, trying to attract attention, but that was... not the only loss, at the same time in torskoye another volunteer died a hero's death, private yevgeny bondarenko, nicknamed jackson, a muscovite, a very young

man, only 24 years old, he lived a bright life, full of courage and correct actions, i sent jackson, yes, there to the house, so that run, he ran, but he didn't run, he died, that's what i regretted, well, that's it... to tell the guys to retreat, to retake the street, they could have retreated to us, that's why jackson is a young guy 24, i regret that, well, he was mowed down, when he was crossing the road, on the edge of the road, that's the fate of a commander, if he is a real commander, to remember everyone by name, living and dead, his comrades in arms, who will forever remain in... that's

what it turned out in my soul, that our crew is not participating in combat operations for the first time, then i am in chechnya, the fat one is also in chechnya, the zyama is also it turns out like... we'll break through, you could say, it means everything, where ours didn't disappear, ours disappeared everywhere, i've replayed this situation several times, and there really is how useful a knife is, if just a step to the side, a step to the other, then we wouldn't have gotten out, and naturally there are some forces, well, especially since i'm a believer, i myself am an old believer, a siberian old believer, for our old believers, they prayed for us, the chapel will be shaved, those who live in siberia and prayed began to be shaved, even here here in moscow,

the main thing is, when a person voluntarily takes responsibility for other people's lives, in peacetime or in battle, he shows himself as a commander and wears this high rank.

one day our editor came up to me and said , listen, a great poem has appeared in the komsomolskaya pravda newspaper, read it. i had no time, in general, i forgot about it, then i accidentally came across this newspaper, i read the poem, the young poet sergei labanov, who is fighting in the fields of svo, since

then in the cover of my passport. i carry a clipping from newspapers with this poem, it is called 3 days, and sergey labanov dedicated this work to his friend alexander lugansky: why you will understand now when you listen to this poem, and we will tell you... the story of the feat of the russian paratrooper alexander lugansky. you survived where death reigned. it tortured you, my brother, for 3 days. you could have surrendered, you could not have endured, but for you to die was not enough. wounded among smoke and fire, you lay in

the field for 3 days. by the road, when your dead friends were already in heaven talking with god, at night in waiting for dawn you fought with someone else's february cold, and to somehow quell your thirst, you ate bloody snow, drank from a puddle, battles thundered somewhere to the side, shells exploded, mines screamed, barely breathing, you thought about your wife and unbaptized one-year-old son on the third night your own found you the sky played with starry grapeshot and even the loud battles did not drown out the sounds and russian speech, live, my brother, in spite of all deaths, with time all wounds will heal, and

know you, it was not just luck, poor thing there are other plans for you, so, it was february twenty the second year, the very beginning of the special military operation, a column of russian troops, in which was sergeant alexander lugansky, entered from the south and moved to the new kokhovka. there, where the kokhovskaya hydroelectric power station is located on the dnieper, an important strategic facility. when we were already driving this year, that is, in 2022, and everyone already knew everything that was happening there, roughly speaking, we have the internet, so we saw how they treat civilians, how they enter a village, there they simply turn around and move on to the next village, that is, we were driving there to protect

people, innocent, well, to be honest, we were ready for this, we should have done this a long time ago, to start a military special operation, so people were all set, they were morally set, we didn’t even talk about it, everyone just knew where we were going, why we were going, what our task would be, that is, we were all set, we wanted to help, only help. to free the population from the nazis, we were simply told that nazis entered one village, nazis entered the second village, closer, closer to us, closer, now we ourselves there they told the commanders that we were waiting, that we were waiting, and the commanders said that the order would soon come.