Jack Losh, VICE News: When War Becomes Routine: A Week with Ukraine’s Weary-Eyed Soldiers
The mercenary thought that he had left the battlefield for good before war slunk back into his life, unwelcome and unforeseen.
Retirement had suited Makar. This soldier-of-fortune turned to civilian life following two decades in various martial tribes. Several years in the Soviet Army; a stint in an elite, Ukrainian police unit following the collapse of Communism; four wars around the world working as a hired gun. By 2007, he was ready to hand in his assault rifle for good.
He headed up-country and opened a beauty salon in Sumy, less than 30 miles from the Russian border. Weighing in at 260lbs and standing more than 6'4'' tall, this bearded hulk was not an obvious candidate to become a beautician. But Makar enjoyed the work, specializing in tattooing fake eyebrows onto female clients.
Seven years passed. He married a third time, fathered a son and a daughter. Life in the provinces was proving pleasant enough. But war was not yet finished with him.
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WNU Editor: I haven't posted much on Ukraine in the past few weeks .... and very little on the war. The news is all bad .... economic, political, social. The main focus among many Ukrainian youths right now is to leave the country. There are no jobs, and who wants to be conscripted. My prediction is that this war is going to go on for another 2 - 3 years ... and then a political solution will be agreed upon .... probably a few months near the end of Ukrainian President Poroshenko's term where I can only hope that he will never be heard of again.
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