Vic: How familiar are you with the Ghost of Kyiv? Has the story come to Kharkiv a lot?
Roman: Should I answer in Ukrainian?
Vic: Whatever you prefer.
Roman: Personally, I don’t know the Ghost of Kyiv. Of course, I heard about him at the start of the war, even before I arrived in Ukraine. But in my opinion, it’s just a symbol for people, something that united them at the start of the war. He’s more of a mythical character (than a real “ghost” of Kyiv) who was killing everything that moved from his jet. I reckon so.
I: [Interpreting to English].
Vic: How did you hear about him when you were in the US?
Roman: Memes. [laughs]
Vic: [laughs] Is he popular in Kharkiv? Or do you think less so, because he’s not a local legend?
Roman: I think people 100% know about him, that is in Kharkiv and other cities of Ukraine too. But, in my view, it’s already 2026 now, and people are slowly moving away from the concepts we had back in ’22. There are fewer of those “loud” figures now and more of the grey, cold war.
I: [Interpreting to English].
Vic: Are there any local heroes that ever get discussed for the Kharkiv region?
Zara: Yeah, we have our discussions. There are a lot of legends around our unit – who founded it, who came up with the name. And I understand the leaders within the unit are kind of fighting over it. Because some of the ones who founded the unit are Chilli and Nemichev. And they said the name came from Chilli being in prison, where they filmed some “Reels” video and used the “Release the Kraken” sound. They liked the idea and took “Kraken” as their name. On the other hand, there’s a story about other people who founded the unit. Those were officers from GUR [The Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine]. And one of them is really into Norse mythology, his callsign is [Redacted], and he was the one who chose the name Kraken because he finds that mythical creature appealing.
I: Interesting. [Interpreting to English].
*** ***
H: He was in Chicago, studying as a student. And he was 19 years old at the time. Right? 19?
Roman: No, at the time I was 21.
H: 21 at the time. Safe–
Roman: 20.
H: Oh, yeah, 20. Safe in Chicago. And what does he do? He’s like, “Hey, I’m gonna go back to Ukraine. Can you train me?” And I thought, no, I’m not gonna help him. You know, I wanted him to stay safe in Chicago. He bought a plane ticket anyway. Came back to fight. I’m really proud of him.
*** ***
H: [Talking about his non-profit organization’s work in Ukraine in 2022] … we don’t do that anymore, but in total, during that first year, we put together about 12,000 IFAKs [tactical medical kits]. Around 3,500 Ukrainians were trained in combat medical first aid. And then we did just under 100 supply runs and brought just over 200 tons worth of humanitarian aid into Ukraine. Those were good times..
Roman: And I agree with you, it feels like it was so long ago.
*** ***
Roman: I wanted to mention the rule about three combat missions.
Zara: What if–
Roman: If you’ve done three missions, that’s it.
Zara: To be honest, I don’t know about that rule. I only know the rule that on the third mission, you’re the most scared to go out, and that’s all.
*** ***
Roman: When I first joined the unit, there was this, you could say…
I: A tradition, a legend?
Roman: Yeah, more like a legend, that if nothing happens to you on your first three deployments, then everything will be fine. But if something does happen, then for sure something is gonna go wrong on your path. And so, during my first three missions, I was thinking: “I hope nothing happens so that everything stays okay.”
I: And did something happen or not?
Roman: Nothing happened, still alive.
Zara: What are you talking about? On which mission did you get blown up?
Roman: Ah, yeh, on the first mission I hit an explosive [laughs], but I was unhurt. Meaning I wasn’t a “300” or a “200”, so it doesn’t count [Note: “300” and “200” are codes used in the russo-Ukrainian war to describe the level of combat injuries, where “300” means “wounded”, “200” means “dead”].
I: What did you hit?
Roman: We were in a car and hit a land mine. We were on the road and the radar showed that an FPV drone was already real close behind us. The driver sped up. And what was very interesting is that we were passing a minefield. There were these little posts showing where we couldn’t drive because there were anti-tank mines. So, we were on the move, the driver accelerated because the FPV drone was on us, and somehow we hit some kind of anti-personnel mine or something like that. We flew up a bit, then landed very softly. Soon we were evacuated from there.
I: Was the car not running anymore?
Roman: I drive that car to this day! I’ve fixed it and now I drive it. That car has definitely got seven combat missions under its belt. And that was its first mission, same as mine.
I: [Interpreting to English].
Vic: And what happened with the FPV drone?
Roman: The radar picked up the FPV, but we didn’t actually see it ourselves. Maybe it was just somewhere nearby, not directly over us, but a kilometer or 500 meters away. Maybe it wasn’t even hunting us. Maybe it was all for nothing. But I don’t think we would have spotted the mine anyway. The only good thing – I was leaning out of the window like this to see where our wheels were going, so we wouldn’t hit anything. And I just thought t myself: “Okay, I’ll pull my head back, just to be safe.” And that’s when we blew up.
I: Something saved you, right?
Zara: Gut feeling.
I: Gut feeling?
Zara: Gut feeling, it’s our mystical salvation.
Roman: [laughs] Or common sense! Knowing I wouldn’t see anything anyway, I thought, alright, I’ll just sit back down.
I: [Interpreting to English].
Vic: We were speaking to a guy who said he was walking through the woods, and he just had a sudden urge to sit down. He sat down to rest for a little, and then a piece of shrapnel came down, flew right in front of where he could’ve been walking. So, he would have been hit if he hadn’t felt like sitting down.
I: I’ll translate.
Zara: It’s okay, I understood it.
Roman: Zara has a lot of interesting stories she can tell. Way more than me.
I: [Interpreting to English].
Vic: [in Ukrainian to Zara] Please!
[Everyone laughs loudly].
I: Has anything like that happened to you?
Zara: I can tell you about intuition. It was my second mission, back when I was still in the infantry. Our task was to evacuate the wounded. It was night, and you couldn’t see anything at all. It was quite dark and only a handful of stars in the sky. We reached the position and waited. We had to wait it out. I was sitting at the very front, staring into the darkness, trying to spot something. At some point, I got quite far from my group, out on a separate spot. So I’m sitting there, and it just pops into my head that I need to go over to the others and ask what’s up. Like, I just need to move away from this spot. I walk over to my group and lie down in a crater from a previous strike. And literally a few seconds later – maybe a minute – an ATGM or RPG shell hits [Note: AGTM – Anti-Tank Guided Missile; RPG – Rocket Propelled Grenade]. I think it was an ATGM. My commander got wounded. The whole blast wave and shrapnel flew right toward where I had been sitting. And I wasn’t even in a crater there, I was just sitting on the ground because there was nowhere to hide. I realized that if I had stayed there, I most likely would have been wounded or even killed.
I: [Interpreting to English].
Vic: Do a lot of soldiers have stories like this? About intuition?
Zara: Yes, I think so.
I: [in Ukrainian] Are there any other similar stories about intuition? Maybe someone told you, or you have stories that are just impossible to believe. For example, someone told us they were sleeping at a position, and a woman’s spirit came to him and said: “You need to leave this place.” He left, and later a strike hit right there – the whole house was leveled.
Zara: No, nothing like that happened.
Roman: There are lots of stories about sitting in the trenches.
Zara: When we got to the trenches, there were two guys from the ZSU [Ukrainian Armed Forces] holding the position before us. They had been there for a very long time. I can tell you that they were in such a heavy state that they heard voices; they sometimes saw faces in the trench walls. They were just that exhausted. I think another level of consciousness opens up when you’re in that environment all the time, waiting for the enemy, without any comfort, always within those walls. It’s a very peculiar atmosphere to find yourself in. It’s not a legend or a myth that in war, right on the front line, you sense a specific smell. It’s the smell of gunpowder mixed with blood and churned earth. And you only find it there. For example, we’re working a bit further back from the zero line now, and you don’t smell it there at all. But right on the front, it’s completely different. I really miss it.
I: You miss it? Wow! [Interpreting to English].
Vic: Why do you miss that smell? Do you think–
Zara: [in Ukrainian] It’s hard to put into words, really. Probably because when you’re there, you feel life the sharpest. When you’re in the heart of death, you feel most alive. And it’s hard to explain, really.
I: [Interpreting to English].
H: Are there any pre-mission beliefs or rituals you guys do? Do you pray, or do you take shots?
Zara: I don’t have those traditions, but when I was still with the assault troops, I had guys who had a superstition about not washing before a mission, because it’s a bad omen. If you wash, you’ll die. But honestly, I liked going out fresh. I’ve always washed before a mission. For them, I understand it’s a reference to the fact that when you die, they wash you. But for me, that’s something very crazy.
I: Did it ever happen that someone actually died after washing?
Zara: No, I think it’s purely superstition.
I: [Interpreting to English].
Vic: Where do you think that superstition came from? Are they just crazy… or?
I: [Interpreting to English].
Roman: It’s because they wash corpses–
Zara: Yeah, it’s because they wash corpses. Before I started flying FPVs I operated Mavics [reconosense/assault drones]. We were stationed closer [to the zero line] and I used runes before a mission. I meditated with certain runes, but it was mainly for safe entry and exit. I don’t know how well it worked, but everything’s been fine. So far.
I: [Interpreting to English].
Vic: You draw runes on Mavics?
Zara: Not on the Mavic, no.
Vic: So, before the war, were you interested in things like telling the future using runes?
I: [Interpreting to Ukrainian].
Zara: I found a course on runes a couple of years ago. I was curious because a lot of military people are into them, getting tattoos of them. I thought: “What are these runes? Why do they do this? What is it anyway?” I decided to dive in and study the subject. It’s actually very interesting, but when I studied it, I realized that getting a rune tattoo is a very bad idea because runes carry strong energy. And if you have that rune on you for a long time, it might not work in your favor anymore.
I: [Interpreting to English].
Vic: Do you meet many people with tattoos of runes?
Zara: [in English] Yes, of course.
Roman: A lot. I think half the people in every unit. Maybe not half, but there are a lot of them.
Vic: And is it because they believe in the strength of the runes, not just because they look pretty?
Roman: [in Ukrainian] Some people probably just think it looks cool.
Zara: Many people use the Helm of Horror as protection against evil.
Roman: That’s a rune.
Zara: No, it’s a bindrune.
Roman: I can show you.
Zara: There are several runes there. It’s called a runic symbol, when several runes are used in one composition.
Roman: Many people get cobwebs on their elbows. [shows the pendant he wears around his neck]
Zara: I have one like that too.
Roman: I had a patch like that.
Zara: Do you have runes on this pendant too?
Roman: Yes, I have runes. There’s the Trident of Ukraine, and here’s a rune.
Vic: [in English] And what does this rune mean?
Roman: It’s more of a protective rune.
I: [in English] It’s just for protection. [Interpreting previous conversation to English].
Zara: Sorry, we have a problem.
Roman: We just have to be at a funeral.
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