We would like to introduce you to a new anti-authoritarian fighter who recently joined the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and became one of the fighters supported by Solidarity Collectives.

“Hi, I’m Mister!

Until recently, I used to make tattoos, teach art to children, watch TV shows with my wife and cats, do activism, volunteer, and sometimes ride a bike down abandoned areas in the Lviv region in search of adventure 🙂

Lately, my main adventure has been the army, and I love it! I am currently serving in a combat brigade, the 35th Separate Marine Brigade in the Donetsk sector.

I first got involved in activism when I was 14: I went to hardcore/punk concerts, participated in various anarchist/LGBTQI+ actions, co-founded several grassroots initiatives, and helped organize various events.

After I moved to Lviv, I used to do volunteer work with feminist initiatives: cooking for people in need, delivering humanitarian aid.

Together with my future (now current) wife, we organized a project of psychological support groups for the LGBTQI+ community called KoloRivnih. Now the project is alive and well: there are 2 mutual support groups, one full cycle of group therapy with two experts has been completed, and trainings on feminist self-defense.

The decision to join the army was not an impulsive one. I have wanted for a long time to join the defense of Ukraine and my loved ones from the dangerous russian world, imperial cruelty and rampant discrimination. For me, this is the realization of my own principles.

But often I was either afraid, or had some “external circumstances” or something else. So I made a firm decision to go to the military recruiting station only in the third year of the full-scale invasion. But now that I’m in the Donetsk sector, my only regret is that I didn’t go earlier. But maybe there is a time for everything.”