Valerij Markus

The author tells the authentic, compelling, yet harsh story of a young man growing up in Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the turbulent period of the 1990s. His steps led him into the Ukrainian army, which at the time suffered from post-Soviet stereotypes, bureaucracy, and semi-feudal relations between officers and soldiers. When Crimea was annexed by the Russian military in 2014, the protagonist was sent to fight in eastern Ukraine as a paratrooper with his military unit. There he was confronted with the harsh and incomprehensible reality of war. This unique book presents not only the text but also nearly 60 QR codes that, with the help of photos and videos, can take the reader to real people and events on the front lines.

Published by Eva Reutová, Familium, 2022

Valerij Markus (* 1993) is a Ukrainian soldier, writer, and blogger. He had wanted to join the army since childhood, and, the day after his eighteenth birthday, he sat in the recruitment office. As a paratrooper, he fought in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and is now back on the front line. Markus is a key player in building one of the brigades. He reflects on his war experiences on his social media accounts, which have over half a million followers, making him one of Ukraine’s most famous military bloggers.