2023-11-18 10:57:00
It is in an apartment building in Rivne, in western Ukraine, that we find Bendo. At 45, this native of Brussels made a strong choice last year at the start of the conflict in Ukraine by deciding to go to the front.
For a year, Bendo and his Ukrainian wife have swapped their Belgian daily life for the trenches of the east and south of the country. “I have been fighting in Ukraine since March 2022,” he explains, showing photos of himself at the front on his smartphone. “And during this period, I have seen a lot of people come and go. Many of my friends died, as did a hundred acquaintances. I know around fifty Belgians who, like me, came here to fight. But in the meantime, I’m the only one left here. »
“No training can prepare you”
Trained in Belgium within the 13th line regiment, Bendo did not arrive on the front completely inexperienced. “It was years ago,” he confesses. “I attended an intensive refresher course in the first weeks of March 2022. It was given to me by the Ukrainian secret services. And yet, no amount of training can prepare you for real combat in the trenches, where you sometimes have to defend positions for days. »
“At night I dream of my death”
Obviously, Bendo is aware that he risks his life every day. Moreover, the Brussels resident affirms it: his choice to go to the front changed his life forever. “I suffer from post-traumatic stress,” he explains. “At night I dream of my death and wake up in panic. Who, in Belgium, is capable of understanding what I am experiencing here? Please note: I am absolutely not a danger for Belgium either. I love my country. I would be the first to come back if Belgium needed my help. But going back to life before? It is not possible. As a truck driver, I can’t do it anymore. I’ve become a different person and I’m quite proud of it, even though it’s incredibly difficult.”
“I miss the peace and quality of life in Belgium,” he concludes. It touches me even more when I’m at the front in the trenches. I often say to myself: “What a great place we are in Belgium!” “.
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