By David Fleet
Editor
Ukraine — Anna Sorochynska recalls the first few weeks of the war Russia-Ukraine war.
“All I wanted to do was throw up,” said Sorochynska. “I was constantly feeling nauseous because of the stress. It’s funny cause at that point there was no fighting. But now when I am in actual combat, I usually feel okay. The shelling doesn’t usually scare me. Every soldier gets fearful sometimes, but fear can be either productive or harmful.”
Sorochynska, a native of Vinnytsia, a community of about 400,000 located in west-central Ukraine, was a student at Goodrich High School during the 2015-16 school year as part of the Future Leaders Exchange, or FLEX program. The U.S. State Department-sponsored scholarship program is for students from the countries of the former Soviet Union, including the Ukraine. Sorochynska stayed with the Brehl family of Goodrich. The Citizen newspaper has kept in contact with Sorochynska as Russia-Ukraine tensions intensified. In late 2021, Russia built a massive military presence-estimated at 150,000 troops on the Ukraine border, according to news sources. Then on Feb. 22, the Russians launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine attacking from three directions.
As the one-year anniversary of the war approaches, Sorochynska, 23, a soldier with the Special Operations Forces (SOF), one of the five branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, formed into a new mechanized infantry brigade, said the war is extremely full-scale.
“We did spend some time periods on the front-line and in some combat, mostly working as recon units,” she said. “My husband, on the other hand, spends a lot of time in the hottest spots, such as Bakhmut.”
Sorochynska said it’s now basically army-versus-army, with long and plenty of action happening daily. At some points and some places the Ukraine Army is on the offensive or has successfully completed counter-offensives, such as in Kharkiv and Kherson, at some places her army is in deep defense.
“Now on the front-line we are equal or close to equal to Russia and that has become possible largely because of Western aid and support,” she said. “I mean, of course our people are incredibly valiant, skilled and motivated, but firepower is the key factor in such full-scale combat. Although the situation is very serious and always has been, it is absolutely noticeable that we have demonstrated extreme resilience.”
“And what I’d like to add is that this bravery, motivation and patriotism is one of the reasons the United States should keep aiding us, because we are eager to learn, to receive new equipment and put these to a good use.”
Uncertainty about a nuclear attack from Russia is real, she said.
“At some point in September or October I guess, an internal warning was issued that the use of tactical nukes against Ukraine is in fact very probable,” she said. “Gladly it never happened.”
Sorochynska is one of a growing number of women in combat.
“We have a rather high percentage of women in the army and many of us take part in active combat,” she said. “Of course, one has to earn the place, but the majority of officers see no problem with women on the front-line, as long as you’ve proved yourself or there is an officer that can vouch for you.”
Sorochynska, who speaks Ukrainian, Russian and English often is required to interpret with foreign instructors that arrived from the United States.
“Honestly, if I had a chance, I wouldn’t refuse to take a learning course in Britain, Germany, the Czech Republic and other countries that teach our soldiers,” she said. “But our brigade is not offering this opportunity at least, for now. But if they do, I am damn sure I will be among the chosen people, cause in my battalion I am somewhat renowned for my English skills.”
While the conflict rages into its second year, Sorochynska remains stoic.
“I miss my friends and most of them are in the army too,” she said. “But we are all in different units, so we rarely get opportunities to meet up. It is certainly difficult to make plans but assuming I have some of my army money left, I want to do some traveling across Europe when the war ends.”