Yuriy Biriukov, ambassador of the NGO "Community Matters":
"Another fictional story, another notch in memory, and I hope so, lives saved. А! I had completely forgotten! Another flashback to 2014, because I've already been through all of this, down to the smallest detail.
- March 11, 11:50 a.m. - 900 plates for body armor are found at a factory in Kyiv, but without plate carriers.
- March 11, 11:53 - Ukrainian Armed Forces rear promises to provide 450 bulletproof vests without plates for Mykolaiv on Saturday.
...and here is dilemma number one. You can't pay for the stoves on Saturday, they only accept cash on delivery. So we have to buy, but there are no guarantees whether the Armed Forces Home Front will provide covers for the stoves on Saturday. We made a decision and bought them.
- March 11, 13:35 - we received an invoice for payment for the stoves. The amount of 2.5 million is too much for the NGO to afford.
- March 11, 13:59 - Petro Poroshenko pays the bill, without discussion or conversation.
- March 12, 08:44 - our truck received bulletproof vests at the Armed Forces Logistics warehouse. Hurray!
- March 12, 12:49 - we have 450 sets in our warehouse: a cover + two plates.
...and here is dilemma #2. We need to get to Mykolaiv, but in the current state of unclear operational situation, we need to do it through Odesa, preferably in daylight hours. Preliminary, we will start on March 13 in the morning and reach Mykolaiv by nightfall.
...and here is dilemma number three. The 79th asked us to bring the armor as early as possible, no later than 6 am. Otherwise... there is a vague muttering and fog. Yeah, of course, they are going on a mission.
...and then there is dilemma #4. Driving across the country at night with a load of bulletproof vests. Do you want to ask me about running with your eyes closed through a minefield? Well, that is not as fast as carrying bulletproof vests at night.
- March 12, 15:18 Yevhen Zhukov promises to give a car to the patrol police.
- March 12, 21:58 - we depart from Kyiv towards Odesa.
- March 13, 5:51 a.m. - AAAA, we made it!
I was standing in the location of the 79th Brigade with a scowl, waiting for the soldiers to unload. But it turned out differently - they got the armor from the truck and went to get the spare parts. And then they went into battle. Immediately. They were equipped differently. They were dressed differently. They had different degrees of experience and training. But all of them had an indescribable, multi-ton determination in their eyes to go kill the occupiers.
They received body armor and went to work.
And I... I tried to calm the trembling and the lump in my throat, because it is very difficult when a battalion is passing by and you realize that not everyone will return home. There is no stamp, no mark, no personal premonition. You just realize that the paratroopers will accomplish the task, but not all of them will return."