“While I was in the hospital, I ordered components for the drones. I cannot solder myself because it is difficult to hold a soldering iron. So my wife soldered and my son helped. That’s how we assembled the first drone.”
For Vyacheslav, it was his first attempt at writing an application for the competition. And it was successful on the first try! We share the veteran’s difficult but stubborn path.
Vyacheslav Strazhets is an engineer by profession. He was a railway worker for 10 years. Later, he switched from the tracks to the roads, driving a truck to transport goods across Europe. Before the full-scale invasion, he was preparing a visa for new routes. However, his intuition told him that he would no longer need to use it. In anticipation of the invasion, he prepared all the documents and bank cards. But his family stayed at home. For Vyacheslav, it was his first attempt at writing an application for the competition. And he succeeded on the first try! We share the veteran’s difficult but stubborn journey.
“Even if I had gone abroad, I would have come back right away. I felt I had to do it. But I didn’t go to the military enlistment office right away. My wife wouldn’t let me in, she took the car keys away. But the next day I went there by bike. I stood in line, passed the commission, and so I enlisted. I had no military experience, I did not participate in the ATO. I felt that I had not fulfilled my duty. In February 2022, I didn’t hesitate for a minute,” says Vyacheslav.
Photo 1: Vyacheslav Strazhets, a soldier with the Separate Machine Gun Platoon of the 38th Infantry Battalion of the Vinnytsia Region’s Angels
For the first two months, Strazhets served in a local defense unit. Later he joined a combat troop. From April 17, 2022, he fought in Donbas. In late May, during a mortar attack, he was seriously injured while helping a fellow soldier. Doctors amputated his right arm, but managed to save his left.
During his rehabilitation, Vyacheslav was thinking about how he could be useful after his recovery. So he turned to the topic of FPV drones. The veteran became interested in them a year ago.
“While I was in the hospital, I bought components for the drones. They came in the mail at the same time as I returned home. I can’t solder myself because it’s hard to hold a soldering iron. So my wife soldered, and my son helped. That’s how we assembled the first drone,” Vyacheslav recalls.
Photo 2: Tests of the assembled drones are successful
For some reason, people think that veterans will come, because they fought, and they will do everything locally.
The veteran taught his son to pilot. Before that, he practiced flying a drone on a simulator. He also took several specialized courses. In particular, he learned how to start a drone assembly business. Viacheslav is convinced that if he had been assembling drones on a volunteer basis, he would not have gotten very far. So he chose the path of an entrepreneur to be self-sufficient.
Strazhets recently opened a sole proprietorship. He sees a number of advantages for a veteran entrepreneur. First, he pays taxes and supports volunteer funds. Secondly, he is ready to work with budgetary institutions. To do this, the product needs to be certified. The veteran has found partners to help him with this.
Vyacheslav Strazhets has already received his first orders. On the way to realizing his idea, he learned about the competition from the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation, which helped him to do so.
“Back in the rehabilitation center, I took courses in strategic community development. I thought I was going to organize life on the ground. But no. For some reason, people think that veterans will come, because they fought, and they will do everything on the ground. But this will not happen. A veteran is the first person who needs help from society.”
I thought it was unrealistic to get a grant, that you had to be a super-duper entrepreneur or a prodigy.
During the course, wounded soldiers were taught about writing projects. After weighing the pros and cons, the veteran decided to start his own business. He learned from his fellow soldiers about the UVF’s funding programs for veteran businesses. A meeting with the veterans who won these programs had a decisive impact:
“This is Volodymyr Skosohorenko, he is engaged in garlic. Taras Yakobchuk, he deals with kitchens and equipment. I talked to them more closely. Volodymyr helped me a lot, explained everything. He told me to stop walking and to run. And so I applied for the VARTO competition: Golden Hands from the UVF and won in the first attempt. I didn’t expect it myself. I thought it was unrealistic to get a grant, that you had to be a super-duper entrepreneur or a prodigy. But no, everything is much simpler,” says Vyacheslav Strazhets.
Vyacheslav knows for sure that as soon as you start doing something, the process goes on. When asked what it’s like for him to be a veteran running his own business, he answers cheerfully and with enthusiasm:
“I have less free time, almost none. I get up in the morning and go. We are just starting to work because we don’t have all the equipment yet. But we already have two employees. I hired my brother-in-arms. He was wounded at the same time as me. My son is the pilot. He sometimes tests our drones, even though he is only fourteen.”
Photos 3-6. Vyacheslav at his workshop
Active communication and the need to engage specialists are issues that are particularly relevant to entrepreneurs today. And although the veteran is used to solving everything on his own, he has run out of resources after starting his business. In the near future, he will be looking for accountants. After all, there are more and more documents, and he needs to keep things in order. Vyacheslav is convinced that a mistake can cost much more than paying a qualified person.
Photos 7-8. Soon, the veteran’s drone assembly workshop will be replenished with new equipment thanks to the financial support of the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs
“We need basic respect from people”
The responsibility for people has also increased. Vyacheslav cares about the comfort of his employees and carefully arranges workplaces. He says it’s hard to find good specialists nowadays. And not only for him. He gives an example: “Once a man came to the store. He said to me, “Do you want to work here as a loader?” And I showed him my iron arm, so he said, “I’ll help you. He apologized, of course. But the situation is indicative.”
The veteran is brief and precise about what he expects from society: “We need basic respect from people. Veterans are those who have given more than just taxes to the state. But people are often afraid to look you in the eye or say something. They try to pretend that you don’t exist.”
Photo 9. Details
Family is what keeps you going
The veteran considers his family to be his greatest support in his rehabilitation and return to civilian life. Recalling the long period of treatment and rehabilitation, he cannot imagine how he would have managed without the help of his wife. Vyacheslav is convinced that family is what keeps you going. Especially in critical situations:
“During the evacuation, I was seriously wounded and had to walk another three kilometers. I had to make an effort to survive. That’s why I remembered my children, my wife, and got up again. I thought that if I fell asleep now, I would definitely not get up. And so I kept going. That’s why my family is so supportive. And also my parents, friends, and comrades-in-arms.”
The family has become Vyacheslav’s support in his recovery and his desire to make drones. And the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation financially supported the veteran on his way to entrepreneurship and the successful realization of his dream. Such projects are very valuable, because when a veteran develops his own business, he brings the spirit of brotherhood to civilian life. In this way, they continue to support their comrades-in-arms on the path to victory.
We thank the veterans for their service, for their conscious stance, strong spirit and perseverance.
The author: Olesya Matsutevych
Photo: from the personal archive of Vyacheslav Strazhets
