Inseparable since childhood: three brothers from Zakarpattya who are defending Ukraine

"Don't worry, we're fine," is the phrase that brothers Ivan, Yaroslav, and Vasyl Hoblyk use to reassure their mother every day.

All three are on the front line in the ranks of the 65th Separate Mechanized Brigade. Ivan is the oldest at 38, and his twin brothers Yaroslav and Vasyl are 37.

Ivan keeps his own video blog in TikTok, where he shows the hard military everyday life: shelling, his car stuck in the mud, his tailed friends, repairing "wounded road runners". He was the one who agreed to talk to me from the dugout and tell me how he defends his country side by side with his brothers.

Left their jobs in Switzerland

In the first days of the full-scale invasion, when hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians were heading to the western borders to escape, the Hoblyk brothers were returning from Basel, Switzerland. There, all three of them worked at a construction site. Without waiting for draft notices, they enlisted in the Armed Forces as volunteers.

"Three brothers are a great force in war. As children, we used to play Cossacks and shooter games, but now it's real."

Ivan recalls that his father was also a soldier. He served in Afghanistan for two years. However, he never told his children about what he saw and experienced.

Yaroslav recalls that they never scrapped with each other, and always stood up for one another. Since childhood, they helped their mother in the garden, cleaning. There was sometimes damage: broken glass in the door or broken plates.

At school, the twin brothers were most fond of the exact sciences – physics, chemistry, and even participated in math competitions.

After graduating from high school, the older brother majored in electrical engineering at Vynohradiv College, while the younger ones studied at the branch of the Rivne University of Water Management in Vynohradiv. During their military service, all three were trained at the Ground Forces Training Center.

"Even in the army, we are also together. However, I received the rank of junior sergeant and went to complete my military service in the Crimea. It was a coastal defense battalion of the Navy, but my brothers went to the Mukachevo military unit of our 128th Brigade.

Then I worked with the power grid for six years. Of course, the salary was low, so my brothers and I went to work abroad. We were in different countries: Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland."

"We almost coughed up our lungs"

Ivan shows us a trench covered with wooden slabs. The soldiers have set up a Wi-Fi zone here, brewing tea using a burner and warming themselves near a cylinder. Ivan keeps his own video blog. In his spare time, he repairs cars and sometimes films the whole process.

"Here are two more Opels: Vivaro and Zafira. The Zafira has recently had its rear brake discs, engine oil, and filter replaced."

Brothers Yaroslav and Vasyl do not stand aside as they help Ivan to repair the "road runners". They are used to shelling. The first few days at the front were the hardest for them.

"I remember heavy fighting at the end of June 2022, and our artillery was almost inoperative," Ivan says. "60 enemy mortar shells came in response to one of ours. There was also a case when in April last year, after the rain, we opened the dugout to dry out. An enemy drone flew in and dropped a gas grenade. I thought I was going to cough up my lungs, and I was mentally saying goodbye to my life. We did not seek medical attention. Together with my brothers, we drank a lot of water and breathed through a damp cloth, and we were fine."

Ivan's call sign is Kot, while Vasyl and Yaroslav go by Psykh and Udav. Both younger brothers are fond of fishing. Whenever there are no combat missions, they look for a pond and go fishing. They share their small catches with their tailed friends: Sherkhan, Vasko, Starushka, Mina, Amfiska, and Sirko.

At first, I thought that Ivan's call sign was also related to cats, but it turned out to be a completely different story.

"In Lviv Oblast, in the early summer of 2022, when the 65th Brigade was being formed, my brothers and I were assigned to a security company. I was chosen as a platoon leader. I enthusiastically performed my duties, shared my military experience, and my brothers gave me the call sign Kombat.

Last spring, when I was working on the evacuation of the wounded, I announced my call sign on the radio. I was told it was too showy for a junior sergeant. I thought about it and gave a shortened version of my call sign – Kot. Many people asked me why Kot and not Kit. If I was in the mood, I explained everything."

"Give up, Zelenskyy does not care about you"

According to Ivan, the occupiers are fighting here to the last. Through the thermal imager, you can see a lot of destroyed military equipment on both sides. And also corpses.

"At the end of 2022, we held positions near the village of Kopaniv in Kherson Oblast, which is occupied. At first, there were 12 of us on the three kilometers of the front, and then one of our positions was destroyed, so there were six of us holding the entire three kilometers of the front. We were on duty for three hours at the post, and rest for six hours."

I ask if they have heard any calls from the Russians to surrender. I ask what they say, what they promise.

"The occupiers often used psychological attacks. Once we heard a drone buzzing, and from it: ‘Surrender! Zelenskyy does not care about your lives’. We only joked in response: ‘How can we give up if we have delicious salo?!"

And after this anecdote, he adds: "We were told that Russians don't know how to fight. Here we learned that this is not true – they fight well, dig trenches. They have a lot of people, and they have an advantage in weapons, which we really lack."

For repelling an enemy attack on their position, the Hoblyks and their comrades received a certificate of merit. However, they stress they went to defend the country not for money, medals or orders.

"We had another story. In the summer of 2022, having gotten used to living at point zero, my brothers and I would occasionally feel low. So, to have fun, we would make life a nightmare for the enemy. Even though we knew that we would get much more in return.

Sometimes we would get intercepts of the enemy's conversations, and they were shocked. After all, we did not sit quietly, but responded to their shelling. However, only with machine guns and a grenade launcher, but this was a strange occurence for them. They would say: ‘What kind of special forces have arrived at the position, usually everyone sits quietly."

"Our mother's prayers are the most supportive"

Support from the rear helps the brothers fight. A volunteer friend from America sent the guys a charging station and disposable showers. Students of the school where the brothers studied make origami, paint shell cases and sell them for donations for the Hoblyks.

"When we were shelled non-stop for eight hours, we thought we had survived by a miracle. Our mom is a big believer, she always goes to church and prays for us. Her prayer is our biggest lucky charm," Ivan concludes.

But the brothers don't even dream of resting now. Only after the victory. They were off duty only 20 days in all two years. They took one of the leaves to celebrate Yaroslav's wedding.

Author: Lesya Rodina