"Everything is fine, it's just a training exercise": a border guard from Chongar tells about the first hours of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine

Late in the evening of February 23, 2022, Ukrainian border guards at the Chongar checkpoint (administrative border with Crimea) saw that the Russians had turned off the lights on their side, and then began moving columns of heavy equipment and lining it up. On February 24, at about 4-5 am, the enemy sent a drone for reconnaissance, after which the Russian army began shelling and invading this section of the front.

Border guard Oleksii Ruzhynenko, a native of Kirovohrad region, who was on duty on the night of February 23-24, 2022, told about what he saw on the administrative border with Crimea. On the first day of the great war, he was captured by the enemy. After 2 years and 4 months of captivity, on July 17, 2024, Ruzhynenko returned home as part of an exchange, Krym.Realii was told.

An employee of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine noticed clear signals of a Russian invasion on February 23, 2022.

People traveling from the occupied peninsula to the mainland said that Russian troops were moving closer to the border.

"We basically passed it on to the department. They said: "Everything is fine, it's just a training exercise, nothing so terrible." Then, closer to 22-23:00, maybe (I don't remember), they lost power. Anyway, for some time – an hour, maybe no more – people were still leaving and entering the building. They said that there were a lot of soldiers there, some tanks, and armored personnel carriers. We were also so tense and reported it," the border guard recalled.

Toward nightfall, border guards in the Chongar spotted the movement of convoys of vehicles, including tanks, through a thermal imager. When it drove closer, enemy Grad multiple rocket launchers lined up on the border.

"Then, around one o'clock in the morning, everything became quiet, it was so quiet. It became very tense, even scary. We had already turned off the lights, closed one line, and allowed only one line, that is, entry and exit," said Ruzhynenko.

After that, the Russians blocked the traffic at Dzhankoy EECP – buses coming from Donetsk turned around and went in the opposite direction.

Around 4-5 a.m., SBGS officers heard a noise in the sky. It was Russian drones.

"A drone is coming, hovering over us. At first, we didn't see it, but one guy saw it and shouted: "Air!" They pointed their guns at him to shoot or just scare him. He turned around and flew back – and literally in 30 seconds Grad rockets started flying," Ruzhynenko said about the first shelling.

He and some other border guards ran into a dugout. The explosions lasted about 40 minutes.

After that, they were supposed to be evacuated from the checkpoint by bus. But the unexpected happened. Ruzhynenko saw armored personnel carriers and armored vehicles, military men shooting in the direction of Crimea. Therefore, the border guards were sure that it was the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"We all lowered our weapons and shouted: "Our own, our own!" Some in Russian, some in Ukrainian. They also look at us, and lowered their weapons. We came closer, 15-20 meters away, and saw that the uniforms were not ours at all, they were wearing red and white armbands, and everyone was wearing masks, it was completely unclear... Then they look at us, they also see our uniforms, our flags. And they just say these words: "Ahh, these are f*ckers," the Ukrainian recounted the events. He still can't explain why the Russians fired at his convoy.

That's how Ruzhynenko and his colleagues were captured. The occupiers put them on the ground, took their weapons, phones, and badges. They shot at civilian cars on the Chongar bridge.

Hiding behind a human shield, the captured border guards were taken in columns to the village of Chongar. Only on the way did they realize that a full-scale war had begun, Ruzhynenko admitted.

"We walked about 20-25 meters and were put on the asphalt again. We were already lying down, and a column of tanks started moving... And there was a caterpillar literally 20-30 centimeters from my head. It was scary then. Then it became clear that the war had really begun," said the former prisoner of war.

First, he was taken to Dzhankoy (Crimea), where Ruzhynenko saw a convoy of military equipment moving to the mainland of Ukraine. Then, apparently, they were taken to the Kursk region of Russia. Then to Shebekino, Stary Oskol, Valuyki, and colony No. 4 in Alekseevka, Belgorod region. Oleksii Ruzhynenko stayed in this penal institution until July 17, 2024.

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