“Ukraine to win as Azerbaijan gained victory over Armenia” Story of Ukrainian hero of Azerbaijani origin
Any war is blood, tears, death, destruction. The Russian-Ukrainian war is also full of a huge number of tragedies starting from the genocide of Ukrainian civilians in Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel and ending with the fact that Mariupol, Bakhmut and many other towns and villages were practically razed to the ground.
Millions of Ukrainians are forced to become refugees and internally displaced people.
Tens of thousands of dead and wounded are the result of the Russian invasion in Ukraine.
There are over 30 ethnic Azerbaijanis among those who died in the battles for Ukraine’s territorial integrity. There are more wounded than killed.
Today, I will talk about one of them. His name is Ruslan Aghasanov. His grandfather Khalig Aghasanov was born in Azerbaijan’s Lankaran district. He joined the military in Ukraine’s Vasylkiv city.
At the end of his military service, the grandfather of our hero decided to stay in Ukraine, where he met his future wife.
The couple had a son, who was named Viktor. This is the father of our today's hero. Viktor Aghasanov was born and raised in Irpin. He worked as a truck driver all his life.
Ruslan was also born in Irpin. He graduated from the local school #3, received a higher legal education. He engaged in social activity and charity.
Ruslan, like all Ukrainian civilians, had big plans in 2022. In particular, he planned to organise an event dedicated to the Azerbaijani-Ukrainian friendship in Hostomel. The date was also chosen - April 30.
“I chose this date because April 28 is the birthday of prominent Azerbaijani scholar, ophthalmologist, professor Zarifa Aliyeva, wife of the Azerbaijani national leader Heydar Aliyev and mother of incumbent President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. I remember that April 28 was Thursday. That's why I decided to hold the event two days later, on Saturday for people to be able to visit it,” Ruslan said.
“The school #12 named after Zarifa Aliyeva is in Irpen city near Hostomel,” he said.
Aghasanov remembers that artists invited from Baku, representatives of the Azerbaijani diaspora of Ukraine, were supposed to take part in that event. A friendship memorial in the form of a pomegranate tree was planned to be installed.
“The cobblestones were supposed to be brought to me from Karabakh, which was liberated as a result of the 44-day second Karabakh war, on which it was planned to make inscriptions that “Karabakh is Azerbaijan, while Crimea is Ukraine,” Ruslan noted.
However, life changed everything. Russian troops invaded Ukraine. Ruslan went to the military enlistment office on February 24 and joined the third separate assault brigade, in which, until April 2022, he protected Kyiv, Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel.
“I never could have imagined that Russian troops would so quickly be near Kyiv, that they would enter Bucha and Irpen, where they would commit monstrous crimes against the Ukrainian civilians that shocked the whole world,” he added.
Aghasanov noted that the stumbling block for the Russian army was the battle for Moshchun village.
“There are a few kilometres from this village to Kyiv. The Russians laid a pontoon across the Irpin River. However, we were in close proximity to this place and sent the coordinates of the occupiers to our artillery. Our artillery shot at the pontoon crossing of the Russians. Then we cleared this area from the occupiers,” he added.
According to BBC, in these battles, the Russian army lost at least 21 marine officers, mainly from the 155th Marine Brigade. According to the Radio Liberty, at least about 100 Russian paratroopers, marine officers and intelligence officers, including at least 45 paratroopers of the 331st regiment, were killed in the battles for the village.
Then the brigade in which Aghasanov served was transferred to the Zaporizhzhia region. There, his leg, shoulder, face and eye were injured in the battles for Malynivka village of Gulyaipol district on May 6, 2022.
“We went to expel Russian invaders from the village. According to available information, few Russian invaders must have been there. However, in reality, Russian tanks and armoured personnel carriers, as well as a lot of Russian invaders were still there. I was wounded during that battle,” Aghasanov added.
The injuries were so severe that Ruslan had to undergo many surgeries, including the removal of an eyeball. Today he needs an ocular prosthesis. However, he is still serving in the Ukrainian army, albeit in the rear. He actively participates in rendering humanitarian assistance to internally displaced people, collects everything necessary for transfer to the Ukrainian soldiers, shares combat experience with Ukrainian conscripts.
“I am convinced that Ukraine will win and liberate all the occupied territories. I always believed that Azerbaijan would gain a victory over Armenia, return Shusha and other territories,” Ukrainian hero of Azerbaijani origin Ruslan Aghasanov added.
Akbar Hasanov