A group of Romani soldiers is defending Ukraine against Russian aggression in the 128th Independent Mountain Assault Transcarpathian Brigade. Although they all were eligible to avoid mobilization, they have voluntarily joined the army to defend their homeland.
“When eight friends and I went to the Svaljavsk Military Commissariat, it took the official a long time to understand what it was we actually wanted,” Michajlo Tytychko, aka “Baron”, told news server Ukrainska Pravda. The Army officials eventually understood the Romani men were volunteering to defend Ukraine.
“The war in 2014 was like a bolt from the blue for me. When I saw what was happening after 24 February [2022], I realized I had to go. If not on the first day, then on the next day, but I have to. Everybody has to. So I got the guys together and asked who would go with me. Another eight people signed up,” says Tytychko, who is an undisputed authority in the Roma community in Svaljava, where about 2,000 Romani people live.
Tytychko was born in Kazakhstan in the USSR in 1975 and later moved along with his entire family to the Zakarpattia Oblast of Ukraine. He attended a primary school with 100 % Romani pupils in Svaljava.
After completing school, Tytychko joined the military service. He gradually went through military training and became a paratrooper.
