“It turns out that I was seconded to a military airfield in my military specialty, it would be nothing in peacetime, but in wartime, still not in the trenches,” – agreeing with this thought, I fell asleep quite early. The sun was still shining, it was still day in the room … At night, I jumped up for no reason. He glanced at his watch, the hands showed ten minutes to one in the morning. I went out into the kitchen, there was an unfinished bottle of cognac on the table. Having poured himself half a glass, he drank a couple of sips and suddenly the roar of an explosion thundered.
– Wow! I said as I sat down on a chair. I went out to the balcony and saw the glow of a fire not far from the Vinogradar residential area. Just in case, I put on trousers, socks, a shirt and a jacket, then added a first-aid kit with medicines and iodine to my travel bag. And so he lay in his clothes until the morning. At six in the morning I left the house and went down to the subway. At that time, to my surprise, there were no passengers anywhere. Near the ticket office, two military men on duty noticed me, and both moved in my direction. One of them addressed me: – Dear, a curfew has been announced until eleven in the morning, it is allowed only with official IDs, your documents!
I rummaged through my travel bag and handed him my prescription. He studied it for a long time, then replied:
– And that there are no other ways besides the metro?
– Me in the direction of the bus station and the bus to the White Church. The military man folded my order and returned it.
– I wish you to get there without incident, come in! – he nodded to the woman on duty at the checkpoint, she let me on the platform.
In the underground hall of the platform, along with me, there were two more military men in camouflage uniforms. They looked at me suspiciously from a distance, they seemed surprised at my civilian clothes. But my inspection was prevented by a train rolling up to the platform. I got into an empty car and the train started moving. At the station "Petrovka" three people got into the car, and when they arrived at the final stop "Lebedskaya" there were already quite a lot of people with things in the car, all these passengers followed to the bus station. At the ticket office of the bus station, I saw a crowd of passengers near the window of the ticket office selling tickets in the direction of Belaya Tserkov. They made noise and demanded administration. Soon the head of the station came out with two soldiers. – Dear citizens! – he addressed the crowd, – In connection with the shelling of a military facility in the territory adjacent to the White Church, traffic to the settlement of the White Church has been temporarily stopped! – his words caused a storm of indignation among the crowd.
– What are you saying, we live there, we need to get home! shouted a woman with hollow grocery bags, “My kids are in there!”
– Wait a minute! – The head of the station tried to stop her exclamations, – I haven't finished yet!
– Who lives there, – the military intervened, – we are now sending a bus there, please follow me and prepare identification cards!
– Interesting, and who does not, what then? – the man with a backpack was indignant.
– The local administration will figure it out on the spot, is it clear to everyone ?! The crowd nodded their heads in agreement. I breathed a sigh of relief as I boarded the tour bus. Half the cabin was filled with people in camouflage with green armbands. On the way out of the city, the bus stopped at a checkpoint. People with machine guns from the local self-defense entered the salon, checked the documents and warned that they did not know the situation in Bila Tserkva, so do not lose your vigilance and, if you feel any threats, return to Kiev. But there were none, and the bus followed on. I learned from the military that they were moving towards the airfield where the aviation regiment of the assault aviation regiment of Sushki fighters was stationed. So I got to my destination without much difficulty. A narrow paved road led to the military camp and with a detachment of military men began to move from the city center, where the bus had brought us, along this highway. From a distance, the military began to talk uneasily about some kind of raid. And I suddenly noticed clouds of black smoke rising from behind the trees to the very clouds. When two hundred meters remained to the fence of the barracks of the town, suddenly one of the soldiers let out a groan and fell down dead. The senior officer immediately reacted with the command:
– Get down, sniper! – and collapsed on the asphalt. I glanced at the lying officer. His body was pounding in death throes. The soldiers silently continued to lie on the roadway. Something had to be done. I pulled my travel bag to me, where I had a white shirt hidden, unzipped it and took out my underwear, grabbed the shirt, and lying high above my head, waving in the air. Then he got to his feet and looked around. From all sides we were surrounded by submachine gunners in full combat gear, through the unbuttoned lapels of the uniform, each one could see a vest.
– Hands up! – commanded one of the approached, – Follow me!
From his insignia, it became clear to me that this was a Russian airborne assault reconnaissance company that had captured the Belo Tserkovsky Fighter Aviation Regiment. Territorial defense soldiers who had surrendered, after checking their documents, were locked in a disguised hangar, while I was brought to the commander in another hangar. A military man with the stars of a lieutenant colonel sat at the table and looked at me with interest. After a moment of silence he asked:
– Do you have anything to explain your personality?" Curiosity flickered in his serious eyes. – That's right, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel! – I blurted out and put the appointment of the military enlistment office folded into four on the table. The lieutenant colonel unfolded the folded sheet and read it carefully.
– Um, you served in the aviation school for foreign students in Kant, Kyrgyzstan, under Major General Makarov, right?
– Yes sir! – I blurted out, – And when he flew in with an inspection to us in Kant, he liked to fly a plane under my maintenance.
– In connection with what, such an honor to you, Baran Valentin Yurievich?
– I am an engineer by profession, a lieutenant, arrived at the base of the school with a high-quality stock of knowledge of aviation technology, which I received at the Ufa Aviation Institute named after Sergo Ordzhonikidze, so he trusted my Czech training machine L-29, and therefore me too.
– What is your specialty?
– This is not the main specialty, but a military technical one, it sounds and is written like this: “Operation and repair of aircraft and propulsion systems”.
– Yes, God himself ordered you to stay on extra urgent, why didn't you stay? the commander asked in a more business-like tone. I realized that we were having a confidential conversation, what would it be for?
– My mother was sick at that time and I had to take care of her, so I didn’t stay, and now it’s quite late for me to be fifty-five years old. – With some sadness in my voice, I said.
– Your country, stuffed with CIA agents, and MI6, is mercilessly pushed into a meat grinder, stuffed with weapons, though outdated, which it is not a pity to throw into the scrap, like your male population. These scoundrels do not feel sorry for anyone in Ukraine. We also know that there is a ruthless struggle between the US and Britain over this territory, especially among the CIA and MI6, a complete deal. The struggle for the dispersion of funds allocated by America and London for the war. We are interested in these disagreements, so I suggest you return home to Kyiv, how do you agree?
– Excuse me, comrade lieutenant colonel, they will seize me as a deserter and burn me, we live on the cross! – My indignation knew no bounds.
