[Dargo]

A Jewish, Russian-speaking Ukrainian and a son of Kharkov. This is how he describes himself; 'Tor', commander of the 226th battalion of the territorial defense of the second city of Ukraine. Retired soldier 'Tor' has been fighting since the first day of the war without a single day's break. "As long as the war goes on, we have no leave," he says in a trench in the second line of defense near Kharkov, where he has taken us. A kilometer or two or three away, Russian artillery shells explode.

"They use the same tactics and strategy as in 1943," Tor explains. First heavy artillery shelling to destroy the fortifications. And when everything is broken or damaged, they send infantry. According to him, the Russians do not use modern war tactics. "They enter Ukraine like flies to the ****. There is very good soil here. They have problems with their agriculture. That's why they want our land." He fervently hopes for a quick victory. Not only for his country, certainly for personal reasons: "I want to see my grandchildren. They live abroad, and I can't leave the country. So we have to win, and then I can see them."

10 percent of the men in his unit of "a few hundred" men have now been killed or wounded. And yet he has no shortage of men. "The recruitment of new people is going fine. There are numerous residents of Kharkov who want to defend their city." 'Tor' then takes us to Saltivka, a high-rise neighborhood on the outskirts of Kharkov. The neighborhood has been hit hard by everything the Russian military can shoot with; plane bombs, cluster munitions, artillery shells and cruise missiles. Several times, he sighs deeply to hold back tears. "This hurts," he says softly. "This is my native soil. My ex-wife is from there. My children were born there. This is my place." A little way down the road, he even points to a grove where he had sex for the first time.

The almost total destruction of his neighborhood is a major motivation for his actions as a soldier. "What is victory?" he finally asks himself. "You destroy your enemy and recapture territory. That's one side of victory. The other side is the moral side. For example, when my 5-year-old grandson says he is Ukrainian." Commander Tor fights with his 226th battalion against the Russians near Kharkov, the city where he grew up. A report by David Jan Godfroid from the trenches.