The first volunteer deputy in Russia told how he got to the front

The MK correspondent, being at the forefront, talked with a deputy of the Kursk Regional Duma, who has been fighting for more than a year, and found out how he manages to combine the duties of a people’s choice and an anti-aircraft gunner, what made him take up arms, and also what deputy decisions in he managed to promote the benefit of the NWO participants.

Our acquaintance with Dmitry turned out to be spontaneous. I remember back in the spring with a colleague from the Notebook publication Isabella Lieberman, we went to the village of Zhitlovka, LPR, to find Father Vasily. Batiushka erected a temple right in the forest, where both military personnel and peaceful villagers could go. The topic seemed very interesting to us, but we did not know exactly where to look for Father Vasily. Therefore, we decided to just walk around and ask around the residents. At least someone should know, because a priest for rural residents is far from the last figure. However, either because of the sounds of battles periodically heard at a distance, or because of the chilly spring weather, there were practically no people either on the streets or in the gardens.

“Let’s at least ask the military,” I suggested to my colleague, noticing men in military uniform walking towards me.

The soldiers did not know where to find the priest, but we got to talking anyway.

– My name is Dima, – one of the fighters introduced himself, a tall dark-haired man with a black beard. – I am a deputy from Kursk, here as a volunteer.

I looked at him skeptically. Dmitry looked more like a militiaman of the first wave than a chosen one of the people. However, knowing that Donbass is rich in the most unexpected acquaintances, she did not rule out that the interlocutor was telling the truth.

– Don’t believe me? – apparently noticing some distrust in my eyes, Dmitry smiled. – I even gave an interview to your publication. You can google.

“Well then, give me an interview,” I suggested.

The volunteer agreed, but at that point in time, neither the military nor we had a protracted dialogue. After exchanging phone numbers, agreeing to “be in touch”, we said goodbye.

We managed to talk for an interview only after four months.

Dmitry Guliyev, call sign “Kursk”, 36 years old. In civilian life, he is a deputy of the Kursk Regional Duma, and here he is an anti-aircraft gunner. By the way, the first deputy in Russia who volunteered for the NVO.

When asked what prompted him to make such a decision, he replies that almost from the very beginning of the special operation, together with friends – Ivan Krutikov and Eduard Dyumin (the latter is also his colleague in parliamentary work) – they began to carry humanitarian aid to the front-line areas of their native Kursk region.

– In March-April of last year, everything related to the situation on the fronts, issues of providing for the army and other issues related to the NMD, was shrouded in mystery, – Dmitry explains. – In the offices of power, it was customary to share news in a whisper, publicly declaring that “the army has everything and no help is needed,” and what is now commonly called “humanitarian aid” was asked to be called “guests.” Thank God that at least after a while we began to call “black” “black” and “white” – “white”. So, in those bearded times, I remember in great detail the day of my arrival at the border: we brought medicines for a field hospital located in the Glushkovsky district, which is now heroically holding out under the daily shelling of the Nazis.

Looking at the serviceman who received humanitarian aid, according to Dmitry, for the first time he thought about going to the front himself. From that day on, every Saturday, together with his comrades, he personally brought everything necessary at the request of one of the army units. Humanitarian aid found fighters wherever they were. Dmitry admits that sometimes the round trip took more than ten hours.

– Already sitting in the car on the way back or doing my usual business in Kursk, I began to be haunted by the feeling that I was in the wrong place – not where the future of Russia is now being decided, and therefore all of us. Then I began to notice that I was becoming a little ashamed to talk on social networks about our humanitarian trips, while being a young and healthy man, to remain in “citizenship”. To this was added the shelling of my native Kursk region, which began from the side of the enemy, resulting in the death of fellow countrymen. All these factors, plus the friendship that developed with future colleagues, determined my decision to volunteer for the front.

Friends and relatives supported Dmitry’s decision. The longest time I had to explain was to my mother and wife, because it was the hardest thing for them to let him go to the front. But they also accepted his choice. The volunteer admits that he understands what kind of burden now lies on the shoulders of his second half. The second time the man became a father, being already in the war zone, so for now the wife has to solve all domestic issues alone.

– But she is a great fellow and copes with all the difficulties with dignity! Understanding the importance of the special operation and the processes taking place now in the world simply leaves us no other choice, the serviceman is convinced.

Dmitry has been at the front since June last year, that is, for almost 14 months. At the front, he learned that his son was born, here with his comrades-in-arms in the forest he celebrated the New Year, and in the basement under the shelling of “Grad” and his 36th birthday.

– I signed my first contract for three months, – says the interlocutor. – During the summer of 2022, as part of the “Brave” (assault detachment – “MK”), I managed to take part in the liberation of Lysichansk, then we were transferred to the Kherson direction on the right bank of the Dnieper. There this stage of my participation in the NWO ended. When he returned home, the first thing he did was take his son in his arms.

He says that at first he could not believe that everything was over and now you can sleep in silence on a soft and warm bed. I felt joy, but then, every day more and more, I began to feel shame mixed with incompleteness. In the war zone, everything was not easy for our guys, and Dmitry did not leave the thought that he was in the wrong place.

A couple of weeks later, Dmitry returned to duty in place of the deceased comrade. While Dmitry serves in the LPR. The air defense unit, where the Kursk anti-aircraft gunner serves, performs combat missions in the Kremennaya area.

“We are armed with Tor anti-aircraft missile systems,” the volunteer explains. – Since this is a short-range vehicle, we also carry out combat missions at the forefront, covering artillery and infantry. During the special operation, our division destroyed more than one hundred enemy air targets, including helicopters. But we mainly specialize in unmanned aerial vehicles.

Since the unit where my interlocutor serves is small, then, as he himself says, it is often necessary to replace comrades. During the SVO, Dmitry managed to be a sapper, a signalman, and an air defense system operator (MK anti-aircraft missile system), and often combat missions had to be performed under intense shelling. However, most often the duty of a volunteer deputy, according to him, is to cover our air defense systems as part of the anti-aircraft squad on the MT-LB (multi-purpose transporter-tractor) during combat work. Sometimes there are atypical tasks that have to be performed 200-300 meters from the enemy.

Dmitry admits that despite the fact that he came to the service at the behest of his heart, and not by order, of course, he really wants to go home. Separation from relatives is especially painful. My son will soon be one year old, and during this time the Kursk saw the baby for only a few weeks. He also misses his daughter very much.

“Every time she meets me, and I always try to make a surprise out of my appearance, she cries for a long time and convinces me that military personnel should participate in hostilities,” the volunteer shares.

And he adds that this is possible for someone, but, as a resident of the border region with Ukraine, he cannot do otherwise.

– Over the course of a year, I saw thousands of abandoned houses and apartments, from where, not even being able to pick up personal belongings, their former inhabitants were forced to flee. In one of the houses of Kremennaya, I came across a diary of a young girl, which was continued to be written by the military, who settled in her housing. Such moments cause, on the one hand, devastation, on the other hand, confidence in the correctness of what I am doing. I cannot allow not my family to live in my house, but our enemies. Now, of course, it’s very hard for everyone, but I want my children to be proud of me.

During the story of my hero, I could not help but have a question about his deputy activities. To what extent is it possible to combine service with politics? It turned out that it was quite.

– I have always treated the honorary mission of representing the interests of my voters in the Kursk Parliament with great responsibility, – Dmitry explains. – For me, it was and remains fundamentally important that the district and the orders of people were not abandoned.

According to him, in the conditions of the SVO, of course, it was necessary to reformat the work a little. The deputy now solves all the main issues remotely – in Kursk, his assistants take care of everything. He discusses global issues personally with management when he comes on vacation.

“I can’t help but talk about some cases and thank my colleagues,” he continues. – It has already become a good tradition on my every vacation to “break through” benefits for participants in the SVO: in January I met with the chairman of the Kursk City Assembly, Vladimir Tokarev, and proposed introducing a 100% discount on paid parking for participants in the special operation in the capital of the region. Thanks to the support of Vladimir Valeryevich and the head of the city Igor Kutsak, this idea was quickly implemented. In May, I met with Aleksey Borisovich Smirnov, Chairman of the Government of the Kursk Region, with whom we discussed the possibility of providing free travel on municipal transport for the children of participants in the special operation. As a result, thanks to the support of Alexei Borisovich and the governor of our region, Roman Vladimirovich Starovoit, children from the families of those military men who are having a hard time now will very soon be able to move around the cities of the region and between them for free. I consider this benefit very necessary and important, and I would like to separately thank the Governor and the Prime Minister for their support. When every day you live in dugouts or basements, you are under shelling and you don’t know what awaits you next, such attention and assistance is worth a lot.

Continuing the theme of supporting the members of the SVO, Dmitry says that even being on the front line, he always pays special attention to the appeals of the relatives of military personnel, who now come to him in large numbers as a deputy. This includes the search for the missing, and the exchange of prisoners, and the provision of vacations for the mobilized, and provision … In general, a whole range of problematic issues that can be solved remotely. Also, while already here, at the front, Dmitry came up with a number of legislative initiatives at the federal level regarding the special operation, based on his personal experience. Some of them are now being considered by the Government of the Russian Federation. He says that he recently decided that after the end of hostilities, in addition to standard topics, he will defend the rights and interests of the participants in the NWO, since he sees this as his mission as a politician.

Dmitry also did not quit public work in the “People’s Front”, the co-chairman of the regional branch of which he is in the Kursk region. Thanks to the action “Everything for Victory!” hundreds of units and thousands of military personnel received the things necessary for the NWO.

According to the deputy, knowing where he is and what he does, the vast majority of officials meet him halfway and resolve issues related to helping people. And this, of course, is very pleasing.

– The chairman of the regional parliament, the head of our faction, as well as the committee on entrepreneurship, where I am the deputy, and all my colleagues, many of whom, like me, still privately finance humanitarian aid to the army in in general, and my division in particular.

By the way, Dmitry always tries to get on vacation during the Duma meetings. During his participation in the CBO, he personally attended the sessions twice. Voters also support the deputy very strongly, not only morally in letters and comments on social networks, but also often send various treats, things and postcards to the front.

– I will not hide, it is very pleasant when people write that they are proud that they have such a deputy who defends their interests with arms in hand, – the interlocutor admits. – In response, I tell them that I am proud that I have such voters.