The youngest MP in the history of Ukraine about personal pain, military service and the russian language

The youngest MP in the history of Ukraine, Sviatoslav Yurash (Servant of the People faction), after the murder of his close friend in March 2022, decided to take up arms and kill the russian occupiers. Now he is a machine gunner in the 24th separate assault battalion "Aidar."

DH News talked to the MP to find out what is most needed at the front, whether Romania is helping Ukraine enough in the war against russia, and to find out the MP's opinion on mobilization processes in Ukraine and the law on mobilization, which has caused a lot of controversy in the Verkhovna Rada and society.

How and why I ended up in the 24th "Aidar" Specialized Brigade

Ahead of the full-scale invasion, I had developed connections with various defense structures, with which I planned to fight if necessary. After the murder of the person closest to me. I contacted a friend from the Bucha Defense Company, which was defending the Kyiv region. I went to them because they were fighting. They were not engaged in any humanitarian activities, but were fighting with weapons in their hands. After the murder of a person close to me, I also wanted to fight. Later I joined the 114th Battalion. In the fall of 2022, it was sent to Bakhmut. It suffered losses. There is a military practice: when such formations suffer significant losses, they are either fully assembled for brigades or partially. My battalion was partially assembled and it was on the list that was sent to the 5th Assault Brigade. And in this brigade there is the 24th separate assault battalion "Aidar."

I have been there for several months.

I had my baptism of fire near Kyiv in the famous raincoat, when I fought in what I was wearing during the russian invasion. But I had a full-fledged baptism of fire near Bakhmut in 2022, when our Bakhmut was recaptured and held the trenches. I spent a lot of weeks there and was fully integrated into this reality.

What is the most lacking at the front now?

Sviatoslav Yurash, MP and serviceman of the 24th Aidar Special Forces Brigade.

Photo: personal archive of Sviatoslav Yurash

There are ongoing discussions in society and in the Verkhovna Rada about mobilization. In particular, on February 2, Oleksandr Zavitnevych, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence, said that the new government draft law on mobilization lacks a provision on rotation. What do the soldiers think and say about this?

Soldiers have different opinions, just like people in Ukraine. It all depends on the unit you are talking to: some are very much tested by events, and some have a different context. There is no objective picture here either. Only generalizations. Whether everyone is exhausted or wants to fight to the bitter end is not settled. Here we need to set clear legislative parameters that can give an understanding to those who are fighting, when they will be able to take a break from the horror that surrounds them every day.

How do you feel about the mobilization of convicts? Do you see them as a human resource that can contribute to a faster rotation of fighters?

I have a good attitude. I think that for one reason or another, people have been imprisoned. Giving them a chance to join the country's defense now is something fundamentally important. The whole world knows that now, more than ever, there is a need for people to defend the state.

Sviatoslav Yurash and soldiers of the 114th Battalion

Photo: personal archive of Sviatoslav Yurash

You are the deputy head of the group of friendship with Romania in the Verkhovna Rada. Have you been able to communicate with our Romanian partners lately?

My communication focused on interaction with various figures working on Ukrainian-Romanian relations and with the Romanian Embassy in Ukraine, as well as overlapping with representatives of the Ukrainian Embassy in Romania. But the war has turned the reality upside down and it is difficult to talk about any active work in the international context.

On February 2, Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said that "Romania will not enter into a war with russia. In your opinion, is Romania generally helping Ukraine enough in the war against russia?

I'm sure there was more context than just "no need to prepare for war". Romania has a lot of very painful and bloody stories with russian occupation, invasions and russian wars. Therefore, I am sure that Romanian leaders remember and that is why they are very active in helping Ukraine, both at the public and non-public level. I have been involved in some of these projects.

You also need to understand that NATO is trying to work in coordination, and therefore paralyze other interactions with other countries.

We need to thank the Romanians for what they are doing, have done and will do, but of course there is no limit to the ideal.

People's Deputy Sviatoslav Yurash.

Photo: personal archive of Sviatoslav Yurash

How did you start to feel about the russian language after russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine? Is the russian language okay for you?

I run my social networks in different languages. This is my fundamental position, born out of the Revolution of Dignity, born out of different stages of my participation in the war in different roles. Because I saw countless people who did everything for Ukraine and who did not know or use Ukrainian. Some had completely different ideas about Bandera, some had a completely different understanding of the communist era in the history of our country, with which I disagree, but who proved their Ukrainianness like no other with their patriotism. That's why I don't accept "pharionism", because I believe that now we need to focus less on what distinguishes us and more on what unites us.

The number of brothers in the previous and current battalion who speak russian is really impressive! And that's why I understand that those Galician mythologies we grew up with deserve the nuances that life brings and explains like nothing else.

My position is the result of my life's journey. Therefore, I will not renounce this position, no matter what it costs me personally or politically. I want adequate treatment of Ukrainians who speak different languages, including russian. An adequate attitude on a human level.

You had a scandal at the beginning of the war because you were seen in the war zone in a regular raincoat, and in general, even now in Kyiv you will not see you in pixels and military uniform. Why is that?

When I come to vote in the Verkhovna Rada, I don't wear a pixel. I have one role there, and I have another role here. In the Verkhovna Rada, I do not feel the need to constantly shout that I am returning to the trenches.

Sviatoslav Yurash, MP and serviceman of the 24th Aidar Special Forces Brigade.

Photo: personal archive of Sviatoslav Yurash

And do you or your comrades-in-arms feel offended by crowded restaurants in Kyiv or Lviv?

Different military men have different attitudes. Some people react to it more heavily, and some say that this is what we are fighting for - for life to go on and for Ukraine to maintain normalcy, and for society to continue to exist despite everything. I can't be offended that different parts of Ukraine are functioning, I can be happy that different parts of Ukraine are functioning and fulfilling the role that they are supposed to.

Do you think this war will last for long and will it end if putin dies?

Putin is not going to retreat, putin is going to fulfill the dream that he wrote about in an essay from 2021 about the historical unity of the Ukrainian and russian peoples. This is his mission and calling, in which he has invested all his political capital. If we talk about objective factors, we must understand that putin will continue to fight and try to destroy us further, and we must do everything to prevent him from doing so. That's why we need to prepare for any variant of war, including the most difficult and longest one. I do not believe that the war will end if putin dies. I understand that putin's entourage, who together with him authorized this war, will be among the first to try to replace him. All of them are the people who mirror putin and support everything he does here. So of course I don't believe in the transformation of russia the moment putin dies.

Serhii Savintsev