Kyiv has resisted drafting young men, anxious to protect the country’s long-term future. That means there is a lot of gray hair on the battlefield.
The call sign “Did” or “Grandpa” is so common in Ukraine’s army that two artillerymen in a four-man howitzer team on the eastern front use it. “I may be of age, but I like to keep moving—sitting at home or in a headquarters isn’t for me,” one of the two, Andriy Kukhar, said on a recent day hunched down in a small dugout near Chasiv Yar, in the country’s east.
Now 46, he listens carefully to the radio, awaiting his next instructions as he keeps an eye on his phone for news about his granddaughter back home. The other Did is his 53-year-old comrade Mykola Voskres, who has five grandchildren, most of whom now live abroad. He left his job working construction in Poland and signed up as a volunteer the day Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. He thinks the sacrifice is worth it. “The younger generation of Ukrainians should focus on building their lives and preparing to rebuild the country after the war,” he said.
