"Steppenwolves"
Over-60s unit fights voluntarily and without pay
Officially, they are too old for military service - but that doesn't stop the men around Olexander Taran from fighting for their country, Ukraine. "We ... make ends meet thanks to the pension fund," says the 68-year-old commander - nicknamed Grandpa - and laughs.
Taran's volunteer unit, the Steppe Wolves, consists of dozens of Ukrainian men. Most of them are over 60 years old and are therefore no longer conscripted into the military. But they still want to serve.
Financed by donations
The mobile artillery unit is financed by donations and travels behind the front line with rocket launchers mounted on trucks. Its members take orders from field commanders and work together with other soldiers.
They do not receive any official support from the military. They repair defective shells themselves. Some of the volunteers are equipped with weapons captured from the enemy. Both are supplied to them by the troops at the front.
When the Reuters news agency recently visited their base in the south-eastern region of Zaporizhia, the men were preparing 122 mm caliber rockets, which were later fired by troops from another unit. "The commanders who give us targets are happy," says a 63-year-old fighter called Zorro. "They give us more targets (and) help us with ammunition where they can."
Younger men in the troops too
His unit has tried to be officially recognized by the Ukrainian armed forces in order to receive ammunition and pay directly, says Commander Taran. However, this was unsuccessful. Younger men who were classified as unfit for combat have also joined the unit.
More than two years after the Russian invasion, many Ukrainians have become war-weary. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find men willing to fight. Some prominent Ukrainian and foreign supporters of the Ukrainian defensive struggle have urged President Volodymyr Zelensky to significantly lower the minimum age for conscripts. At the beginning of April, Zelensky approved new measures that allow the military to call up more men. He lowered the conscription age from 27 to 25 and tightened the penalties for refusal.
In service since 2014
Taran, who has been deployed since the fighting began in eastern Ukraine in 2014, says it is unlikely that coercion can replace the genuine enthusiasm of a potential recruit. "You can beat him with a stick, but he won't fight," he said. "If someone wants to do that, he can do his duties for 100 years and destroy the enemy."
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