The Country Needs Heroes...

In fact, I hate this phrase. Quite a long time ago, in the first phase of the war, it was precisely these words that were used as the answer to the question “Why weren’t the ‘cyborgs’ (Ukrainian servicemen who persistently held their positions despite being outnumbered by Russians) withdrawn from Donetsk Airport in time?” The person in charge was one of the then decision-makers. "Because the country needed heroes," was the reply. The conversation was purely behind the scenes, so I cannot name the author of the quote. But it was precisely with this phrase that my respect for this man began to waver.

The country indeed applauded those who survived that hell. The phrase “They endured, the concrete didn’t” became one of the most famous quotes of this war. We got our true heroes. You could even touch some of them, reward them, or interview them. Others forever remained with us only in memory.

How important was this piece of crumpled concrete to us after the signing of the Minsk accords? I don't know. Was it more important than the lives of those who remained there? I doubt it. And I sincerely want to believe that there was another explanation. That this was a deliberate task that had some purpose other than a demonstration of heroism. And that those who, at the cost of their lives, defended the last ruins of the airport, knew why they were doing this.

Nevertheless, the country needs heroes. There is no doubt about it. Tough times require them. Just like in a fairy tale, there must be someone who will defeat the dragon, destroy the ring of omnipotence, fight the main villain and save the entire people. If they are not in the information space, those who do not consider themselves to be one of those heroes have no one to rely on. There is no one to believe in. And if there are no heroes, where can we find faith that we weather through the next incredible turn of our history? Be it a revolution with executions in the very center of Europe; a creeping war under the Russian motto “our troops are not there”; a pandemic or a full-scale war that flattens entire cities.

It's even harder to believe that the heroes are no different from the rest. They simply found themselves in circumstances that could only be overcome with extreme efforts. And it is absolutely impossible to believe that you yourself, in these circumstances, are capable of something like that. Therefore, most of today's heroes are quite sincerely surprised: “Who? Me? Come on, what kind of hero am I? If only you could see my brothers-in-arms..."

War gives birth to hundreds of heroes. There is no more favorable environment than every second of struggle for your life or that of someone nearby. Life in the era of social networks allows you to witness daily heroism almost live. This creates the illusion that some individual superhumans are fighting at the frontline. Capable of doing things we never dreamed of in the rear. This is probably partly true. Because it is almost impossible to believe that a person of flesh and blood is capable, for example, of holding a position alone for a week while being surrounded and fighting at the same time, rather than hiding underground. How hard it is to believe that you can walk 600 kilometers through enemy territory undetected and completing the task. How unrealistic it is to believe that you can go through months of captivity, daily torture and still survive, then find the strength to return to duty, knowing that this could happen again.

It’s hard to believe that someone would spend day after day taking people or animals out of shelling on a rowing boat or in an old car. That an elderly man with Molotov cocktails is able to stop a tank column in his village. That a drone can be shot down from a window with a can of pickled tomatoes. That you can enter an occupied city and bring a pregnant woman out of it through snow-covered fields, while not a single special forces soldier can stick his nose into this city.

But none of them were born a hero. Unlike in fairy tales, heroes are not born in special families or at precisely predicted times. They do not have a lightning-shaped mark on their forehead. There is no mysterious sorcerer behind them, giving them power at the right moment. They don’t even have the ancient sword they inherited from their warrior ancestor. They didn't plan to become heroes. And I think that, if given a choice, they would prefer a quiet and peaceful life. Or at least some pause in their heroics.

As one of my good friends, certainly one of the heroes himself, said, “I don’t want people to be proud of me. I want to be given the opportunity to rest. In the meantime, I will be happy to be proud of those who took my place.”

We live in an amazing time when you can not only watch heroes live, but also become one of them. It is enough just to accept the idea that the war is not somewhere out there. It is everywhere. It happened not to someone abstract, born specially for it, but to all of us. It's scary to take just the first step. Then it gets easier. Before you have time to be truly scared, you find yourself on the other side of the legend and ask surprisedly: “Who? Me? Come on, what kind of hero am I? If only you could see my brothers-in-arms..."