Heroes of Ukraine. "Russians first killed relatives, and then gave gingerbread to children" - sapper Vitaliy Halasha

In just one week of work, Volyn sappers discovered and destroyed 114 munitions left by Russian occupying forces on the territory of Donetsk region. And these are 36 cluster warheads 9Н210, 64 units of anti-personnel high-explosive mines "Petals" (Soviet production), 4 units of detonators for anti-tank mines, 8 fragmentation munitions VOG-17, VOG-25 and artillery shells of various calibers. And in the Chernihiv region, more than 1,600 explosive objects were destroyed in 55 days.

Vitaliy Halasha, head of the pyrotechnic work group of the emergency and rescue squad of the Special Purpose Emergency and Rescue Unit of the Main Department of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in the Volyn region, told Espresso about the work of sappers in war zone.

The worst thing is the stories of people you hear every day

The emergency worker says he wanted to be a soldier when he was at school. At one time, he went to study at a military institute, and after that the circumstances turned out to be such that he retrained as a sapper. He admits he had no idea that his work would have such a scale.

"Of course, this type of work has always existed, because we are still working with the consequences not only of the Second World War, but also of the First World War. In addition, there are many trips to dispose of ammunition at the request of the public, when people find obsolete shells in gardens or fields", Vitaliy says.

But now work is slightly different. After all, we also have to work directly with the population that has experienced terrible events. Sapper notes this is almost the most difficult moment in his work, because he passes every story through himself.

"Our work does not scare us. The scariest thing is the stories of people that you hear every day. After completing tasks, talking with the local population takes up a lot of time. It's one thing when you see it on TV, and it's quite another to hear it live. You have to go through all of this yourself. Although over time, of course, a certain immunity develops", the sapper says.

Vitaliy remembers with particular sadness a little boy who told how Russian shells flew into his house, and then Russian soldiers gave gingerbread to the orphaned children.

"You know, Russian cynicism just goes off the scale. When we worked after deoccupation in the Chernihiv region, in Yagidne village, there were really striking moments. The family was hiding in the basement, and Russian soldiers came there to shoot at them.

5-year-old boy, who received shrapnel injuries, told me this. His grandfather was shot at close range, his mother was wounded. And then Russian soldiers gave that child gingerbread. It's scary to realize how much they have already suffered in childhood", the deminer recalls.

One day of war equals thirty days of demining

The rescuer believes that after everything that is happening now, it is simply necessary to rethink the approach to the service of a sapper.

"The danger of our work is reduced by the fact that guys are ideological. We don't chase after awards or money, everyone has a sense of duty. We understand that there is nowhere in our work without us, because the first thing is to carry out demining, and then everything else. People will not go to their homes until the sappers do their work. Therefore, we understand that the more we work, the faster life will return here", he adds.

Stress resistance is a mandatory requirement for qualified sapper. However, it is sometimes mistakenly confused with fearlessness.

"In order to be a good sapper, you need to be calm and cool-headed about everything. It is also important to be afraid. When fear disappears, it doesn't matter, and when it doesn't matter, then unpleasant situations arise. Now our guys are everywhere: in the North, in the South, not only in the East. Although we are more familiar with the East, since we have been there several times since 2014, since the time of anti-terrorist operation. We demine both what comes and what remains, we clear everything", the sapper says.

In addition to demining, sappers are also constantly present during the demolition of rubble. Therefore, when their colleagues find explosive objects, work is stopped and pyrotechnic masters are taken to task.  According to Vitaliy Halasha, one day of war equals thirty days of demining.

P.S. On the day of publication of the article, Vitaliy Halasha, together with his colleagues, went to the East on another rotation for demining de-occupied territory.

Espreso continues the series of stories about Heroes of Ukraine who defended and are defending Ukraine from Russian invading forces. Read more stories in our column with the same name "Heroes of Ukraine".