War through the eyes of Medusa readers. Today we are publishing Mikhail's letter when hostilities began in full scale, I was 16 years old, and I did not think I would be involved in them. But almost six months have passed since I returned from "urgent service" from one border area. Our unit had a training center for contract soldiers: they were trained in two weeks, and then sent to the front. I was able to communicate with many of them. Everyone has different reasons for going to war: debts, job loss, a desire to improve their financial situation, or simply "out of boredom". There were also "ideological", but there were very few of them, mainly 50+ generation, and there was no aggression in them, but they said that according to them, one was in danger, meaning that he should be protected. Most of the recruits showed enthusiasm and confidence in an easy and quick victory and returning home. One day, my friends and I were digging a hole and a contract soldier approached us. He says: "Get some rest guys, you'll dig some more. It turned out that he is a rank officer who has been fighting in Donbass since 2014. He asked if they were encouraging us to sign a contract and added sadly: "You don't need it, boys. Live, bring children. There is nothing good in war, so many people have died, there is no end in sight." All these people are different: some are just preparing to go to war and are optimistic, others have already been through it, see all the horror and lose all interest in life. I often stood in my uniform in the armory, and every day the same contract soldiers who walked "on the tape" came there. Every day I saw new people and realized that this was the last time I would see them. They were all completely normal people, full of life: they said hello, asked how he was, and joked. The army has always been perceived by me (as well as by many of my colleagues) as an empty and useless waste of time, but such a turnover of people, created in this historical period, added another feeling - despair and doom, the feeling that everything is flying into the abyss.

War through the eyes of Medusa readers. Today we are publishing Mikhail's letter when hostilities began in full scale, I was 16 years old, and I did not think I would be involved in them. But almost six months have passed since I returned from "urgent service" from one border area. Our unit had a training center for contract soldiers: they were trained in two weeks, and then sent to the front. I was able to communicate with many of them. Everyone has different reasons for going to war: debts, job loss, a desire to improve their financial situation, or simply "out of boredom". There were also "ideological", but there were very few of them, mainly 50+ generation, and there was no aggression in them, but they said that according to them, one was in danger, meaning that he should be protected. Most of the recruits showed enthusiasm and confidence in an easy and quick victory and returning home. One day, my friends and I were digging a hole and a contract soldier approached us. He says: "Get some rest guys, you'll dig some more. It turned out that he is a rank officer who has been fighting in Donbass since 2014. He asked if they were encouraging us to sign a contract and added sadly: "You don't need it, boys. Live, bring children. There is nothing good in war, so many people have died, there is no end in sight." All these people are different: some are just preparing to go to war and are optimistic, others have already been through it, see all the horror and lose all interest in life. I often stood in my uniform in the armory, and every day the same contract soldiers who walked "on the tape" came there. Every day I saw new people and realized that this was the last time I would see them. They were all completely normal people, full of life: they said hello, asked how he was, and joked. The army has always been perceived by me (as well as by many of my colleagues) as an empty and useless waste of time, but such a turnover of people, created in this historical period, added another feeling - despair and doom, the feeling that everything is flying into the abyss.