Peter went to Ukraine to fight against Russians, but didn’t fire a shot

Still recovering from his adventure, Peter is sitting on the leather couch in his living room in Oss. He was away from home for eleven days, seven of which he spent in Ukraine. A number of times he went on patrol in military outfit, but Peter did not fire a shot himself. Still, he’s glad he went.

On TV, Peter saw the human drama behind the Russian invasion. It felt so unfair that he wanted to go there and fight. Even if it cost Peter’s life and he left his 17-year-old son behind. On March 17, the time had come, when a van with several Dutch people picked him up with Ukraine as destination.

“The further east we drove into Poland, the emptier the highway became. In front of the border were long lines of trucks carrying relief supplies. It was a hassle to enter Ukraine. We had contact with a colonel, but it was very hazy.”

In the middle of the night, Peter and another Dutchman were picked up near the border to go to their assembly point. “Walk into this forest. Then you will automatically reach the base, said the driver. We slept on stretchers in dark green tents. Probably because other places where foreigners came in had been bombed by the Russians.”

The next day Peter got stuff from the army. “Then you suddenly find yourself there with an AK-47, 4 boxes with two hundred bullets and a helmet. I have been on a shooting range myself, but there were also some who had never held a weapon before. We did not receive any shooting training. “That was very strange. The contract would come later. There was something about that. It was immediately made clear to us that we were not allowed to take pictures or share locations.”

Once or twice a day, Peter says he went on patrol. That happened with other foreigners, led by Ukrainian soldiers. Sometimes they walked around the neighborhood. Other times they drove a jeep through the freezing cold to villages to see if they encountered any crazy things.

“We stood at bridges and walked through villages. There were destroyed houses. In the distance you could see plumes of smoke and sometimes you heard explosions. Often there were people with weapons and roadblocks. Residents had made Molotov cocktails. Then you realize: this is real. It’s almost so real, it looks fake.”

What he saw, smelled and heard made Peter paranoid, he says. “At night the air raid sirens often went off and you could hear explosions in the distance. I preferred to patrol in the dark, even if it was fucking cold. I only slept half in the tent camp, because there is still a chance that the camp will be bombed.”

After a few days the contracts finally arrived. According to Peter, the foreigners had to sign for a year and received 300 euros per month. “Whoever left earlier or was injured received nothing. If you died, you wouldn’t get a cent. It was like a strangulation contract, because the longer you stay there, the more likely it is that something serious will happen. I was told beforehand that we would stay for a month. I was also prepared for that. This went way too far for me. I’m not a target.”

Like two other Dutchmen, Peter refused to sign. And so they had to surrender their armor. The three left for home. They returned to Poland via a border crossing, where thousands of women and children stayed overnight. A plane brought them to the Netherlands on Monday.

“It made a deep impression on me,” he says at home on his couch in Oss. He smokes a cigarette and sighs. “I’m glad I went. I think we’ve added something. Even if it is just a drop in the ocean.”

Peter is not the real name of the interviewee. The name has been changed due to its security and privacy. The real name is known to the editors.

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