Eric Matetskyi: ethnic Pole from Lviv defends Ukrainian borders

The history of the military - in the material of Espreso.West

Eric Matetskyi wanted to be a soldier since his youth. He graduated from the military lyceum, served in the internal troops, and then in the Ukrainian National Guard in a special purpose unit. 

"I am sufficiently prepared in terms of the military", Eric Matetskyi said. "After completing my service, I received a specialty and returned to the army in 2014, when the war began. I started working for the United Multinational Group Ukraine at the International Center for Peacekeeping and Security, translating from Polish to Ukrainian".

Eric Matetskyi is an ethnic Pole, but has lived in Lviv all his life. His daughter and her family are now in Poland. On the eve of the full-scale invasion, the man went to visit them. He returned, and the war caught him.

"I came to the Military Commissariat on the second day of the full-scale invasion", Eric Matetskyi said. "They told me that men between the ages of 18 and 40 were being recruited into the army. In order to be useful, I called my colleagues from Poland and we started bringing aid from Przemyśl. After that, I didn't sit down and still started looking for a way to join the army. Because who will fight? I am a citizen of Ukraine, so I took up arms and went to fight for Ukraine".

Then Eric decided to try to join the Territorial Defense Forces. Since he lived in Lviv, the choice was obvious.  

"I went to the 125th Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces", the soldier said. "I received the position of chief sergeant of the company. We prepared for hostilities for two months. There were very few people in the units who served time. Therefore, we had to teach them from scratch: from discipline and formation step, to how to introduce yourself and report. That is, they passed the course of a young fighter, tactics of combat training, combat medicine, marksmanship, as well as fire training. The experience and knowledge I gained back in Soviet times, during independent Ukraine, and the fact that I worked with instructors from Poland, Lithuania, Canada, and the USA helped me a lot. I saw their work and tried to pass on the experience to my subordinates".

Currently, Eric Matetskyi is fighting the Russians in the East. He says that there are very motivated people with him, who are ready to bravely defend Ukraine.

"Everyone here is a volunteer", Eric said. "If I wasn't ready, I wouldn't have joined the brigade either. It's a terrible war. There is constant shelling in our area. The Russians are firing all their weapons. Planes are constantly flying. And we respond. People who have been fighting since 2014 say that now is a different stage of the war. But we will be able to regain our borders. The USA and Europe help us, and there is something to fight for. We need to gain strength, a little time - and we will drive them out".