Sergeant of Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Morozov has recently been in USA. Veteran told that he was very impressed how people on Washington’s street react to Ukrainian soldiers. 

“I am Ukrainian serviceman from 2011. I fought against russian invaders in Donbass during 2014-2015. A fter demobilizaton I learn fundamental of business and created two my own projets. First one is CleanShot. It is oily napkins for cleaning weapon. Second one is “Hostyna”. It is craft production of meat and fish products.

I returned to army on February 24th when Russia attacked Ukraine again. Our unit performed combat missions across hot location of front line during spring and summer 2022.

I came to USA with delegation of Ukranian veteran’s foundation supported by The Independent Anti-Corruption Commission NAKO, Mriya Aid and Mriya Report.

I asked unit should I go before the trip. Soldiers supported me and said it is nessesary to learn from the foreign experience. I’m in Ukraine now and I have already returned to service.

We had a meeting with major of the US infantry. His callsign is “Dj”. He was injured in Irak and had 47 operation. He invited us for a barbecue to his home and we had pleasant conversation. He came to visit us in two days later. Absolutelly all people in USA respect Ukraine. It is significantly. 

Veterans system in American society works much better than in Ukraine. Every big event in the USA begins from thanksgiving from civilian people to Vietnam veterans, Iraq’s and Afghan’s campaigns. People treat the soldiers and defenders sincerely and with respect. In our case, all of this should be is tens of times less, because the war continues on our territory. But it will be subsequently. Ukrainians need to formulate special principles and models of behavior.

The brightest memory from the trip is when we were staying with a group close to Capitol and ordering fast food. My colleague and I were in uniform. And suddenly a boy came to us and said “I will not leave you without taking picture”. We agreed. As it turned out, he is from Kongo, studied in Luhansk, Ukraine is his own home. Also, he mentioned Ukrainian peacekeepers, which were in United Nations Mission and performed missions in his country.

It is a million-plus city. Do you imagine that? But there are people who see chevrons, even a little Ukrainian flags. They come to us, want to make a photo, say “thank you”, shake our hands.

Ukraine has done something incredible. Most people were confident that we will lose everything very fast. Because we have resources which are tens of times less than Russia has. Destroy “the second army in the world”? Yes, we can. And we will do it till the victory.

The trip takes place in cooperation with the Independent Anti-Corruption Commission – NAKO and Mriya Aid