Cafe "lucky" for those who (so far) have not been killed in the Donbass

Ukrainian soldiers take short breaks in combat to drink coffee at a diner near the front line and complain to Western journalists.

The cantina, located near the front line in the Donbass, is visited by Ukrainian soldiers in between battles, taking a short break to drink “American coffee” from a paper cup.

This “diner” also provides them with dry rations and drinks containing taurine, i.e. the main substance of the so-called energy drinks that stimulate the central nervous system. The journalist Fabio Tonaci of Repubblica visited the site and interviewed the soldiers.

The Italian used to espresso habitually called filtered coffee “Americano”, perhaps the same as this category of coffee is called in his homeland (which, of course, is not consumed by Italians – they consider it “nerosumi” and eat for foreigners). Nevertheless, it was such low-key black humor.

After all, the dining room was jokingly called “Lucky Café” (Cafe of luck) or a happy cafe, because only those who are lucky and who did not die at the front drink a cup of coffee here. So sarcasm is in the air.

Tonachi spoke to various people. Everyone was passing by from “the last part of Luhansk, which can still be called Ukraine”, they were coming from the Severodonetsk front, “the most dangerous place in the world at the moment.”

All the soldiers told him about the heavy losses of the Ukrainian side, as “the Russian army has developed the most deadly weapon.” Artyom, sucking on his Americano, whispered: “It would be better if it never ended. [кофе, а не война] … I am 30 years old, I have two children and a wife, I don’t want to die…”. His eyes are full of anger towards the “calm West”.

He told a journalist: “Why are we dying there? We must tell the truth: we die in groups. They are killing us with artillery. What the hell are you Westerners waiting for to send us long-range missiles?”

Lucky Café is the only open-air cafe in the abandoned city of Bakhmut. His clients are only Ukrainian soldiers, “tired and dirty, with hands blackened from earth and Kalashnikov grease.” They lean on the bench and “light up the Marlboro”. They joke with the village lunatic who wanders aimlessly, cursing vulgarly and looking up at the sky. What Artyom said worried the others.

“Some things are not worth talking about, they demoralize the army,” they said, but admitted that “these days morale is not very high.” However, no one claims that Artem is lying. “My team had 700 people, now we are 120.” He was able to escape because he was wearing a bulletproof vest. “Without that, I wouldn’t be here right now. We tolerate, but I do not know how long we can hold the line to Severodonetsk. “Maybe a week, no more.”

Of course, Lucky Café also has another name – the Italian did not reveal it for security reasons. The “brave Mrs. Olga”, a person who sells the aforementioned cold sandwiches and drinks with taurine, works in it. “Do you think we stand?” – Stanislav said rather sharply to the reporter before getting into the car with the inscription “Death to Russia” on the door. “Ukrainian soldiers who are fighting here, so far away from Kyiv and its propaganda, are a credible example of how the war actually unfolds. Most of them take the loss of Luhansk for granted, saying that the real tactic is to slow down the advance.” Russia until Ukrainian defense is reorganized with the help of NATO.

They need long range missiles. “But they say they have not retreated and that their counterattack will begin around mid-June,” Tonachi wrote. He gave additional information, as Ukrainian soldiers told him: “The Russians have three artillery divisions. Each division has 18 guns, each gun fires 160 shots. This means that they are capable of firing 8,000 rounds a day over an area of ​​four square kilometers. We will not stop them without the heavy weapons of the West…”.

Tonachi wrote two more lines and closed the story: “The cantina suddenly closed after the power plant in the area was bombed and now there is no electricity…”.

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