Under a Rocketless Sky

Maksym used to be a missionary. After the Russian invasion, he volunteered for the Territorial Defence Forces. His almost entire unit was later killed in a bombing raid. He is currently an investigator of Russian war crimes in Chernihiv, Ukraine.

Maksym Petuchov used to be a missionary in South America, something I found out as we were about to descend a muddy slope in the Skole Beskids that was covered in snow just days ago. He promptly runs down and explains that it’s to minimize the risk of an accident. “The natives in Ecuador taught me that,” he tells me.

When the war broke out in Ukraine, he almost immediately volunteered for the territorial defence force, where civilians were recruited at the start of the invasion. Maksym’s unit got World War II-era rifles and exactly 120 rounds of ammunition each.

When I asked him if he had shot anyone, he replied laconically: “No, we just waited to die.”

Almost his entire unit was later killed by Russian rockets. He survived only thanks to a high fever which had kept him at home for a few days. Today, he investigates war crimes in Ukraine.

I met Maksym at the NGO People in Need’s retreat for war crime investigators, which takes place under the supervision of seasoned therapists in the more peaceful parts of Ukraine, far from the wail of sirens and hum of generators, with the goal of preventing burnout. And we became friends.