Andriy Myronov, an electrician at Northern GOK's Networks and Substations Department, is one of the veterans who had no intention of returning to civilian life until the end of the war but had to do so because of his injuries. Today, he has returned to his team, but he does not rule out that, if necessary, he will support his brothers-in-arms and return to military life.
Enemy attacks and shelling, trenches and cold, painful losses and constant danger. Andriy Myronov returned to his native plant with such war experience behind him. The combat geography of the Northern GOK employee covered Kramatorsk and the outskirts of Bakhmut for six months at the front. Andriy asked to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine himself: the father of three sons stormed the military recruitment office several times since February 2022 until he was finally sent to military training. Life at the front quickly became a normal routine for Andriy, and he found his own purpose in it.
"I became part of the 3rd Luhansk Border Detachment, a military unit of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. There were heavy battles for the city, across the Bakhmutka River. They fought for every meter of cottage building co-operative. I was in character and comfortable despite all the restrictions and dangers. The world there strangely shrinks to one or two days and a few dozen metres. You don't plan anything, you don't think about anything, except for protecting yourself and your brothers-in-arms and performing tasks to defend your position or destroy the enemy. There seems to be no future, and tomorrow may not come. And all this gives you such an unusual feeling of freedom. Despite the rules, heavy physical activity, stress, exhaustion and every minute risk, I felt good. I did the best I could and relied on fate," Andriy Myronov says frankly.
In one of the battles in January 2023, the Northern GOK employee was shrapnel wounded in the head and got severe concussion. So he spent a month in hospital, then got a military deferment, and in March he returned home to his family and to work - to the same position in the shop where he had been working since 1999. According to his colleagues, despite his frontline experience, Andriy hasn't changed at all. Maybe in the early days he was too concentrated and closed, but everything quickly fell into place.
"For the first month, I felt like I was still at war. We go somewhere in the quarry under the work order, and I catch myself thinking: why am I without a gun? At first, I really felt unusual, stressed: no explosions, no shooting... I was surprised by the silence - I was so used to the roar of war. But he gradually relaxed, got used to the new daily schedule, sleeping conditions, relative safety, the sound of the air alert... I'm at piece with my colleagues. I am not one of those who avoid questions about the war because of painful, unpleasant memories. On the contrary, sometimes I need to be listened to, and my colleagues are happy to do so. The fact that I was in the war does not make me some kind of idol. I'm just like everyone else, I just have a different experience now. And everything else is the same as it was", - Andriy says.
After six months of civilian life, Andriy felt the desire and resource to move on to new horizons: he entered the university for distance learning in his native speciality - electromechanics and electrical engineering. Along with his many years of experience as an electrician, he also had ambitions to move up the career ladder. The veteran's family supports him and motivates him to study.
"As for me, the electrician's profession is quite similar to the mine clearance specialist. Concentration, attentiveness, discipline, responsibility. First think, and then act. All this was of good value at the service and vice versa. At the front, I got used to calling a spade a spade If you do the task, you report it, if you don't, you report it. Less talk, more action. And the focus is on the result. This is mine, so I want to return to the front. We have some guys there who have been fighting for two years and simply need a rest. I have sons: one has just graduated from a technical school, the twins are schoolchildren, they are fond of dancing. It is better for me to fight at the front now than they will after some time. Someone has to do it - to kick out the enemy from our country," the defender concludes.
We would like to remind you that Metinvest Group's enterprises have implemented the Heroes Among Us programme. Its training course covers the most important issues of communication and interaction with veterans - dispelling fears and myths, helping to find common ground and develop empathy. In this way, the company's employees will provide the heroes with reliable support on their way back to peaceful work.
