The volunteers of the Azov Battalion take their vows in the form of a prayer on their way to the front.
Ukraine, Mother of Heroes, come into my heart, flow in with the wild wind of the Caucasus, with the sound of Carpathian streams, the battles of the great Warrior Father Khmel, the triumph and echoes of the cannons of the Revolution, and the joyful ringing of Sofia’s Bells. May I be reborn in Thee, pierced by the rays of Thy glory, because you are my life and you are all my happiness.
Ring out with the clang of chains, the creaking of the gallows on overcast morns, bring me the cries of those tortured in cells, in prisons and in exile, that my faith may be granite, that my determination and strength may grow, that I may boldly go to battle, just like the Heroes went for Thee, for Thy glory, for Thy Holy Idea. That I may avenge the shame of slavery, the trampled honor, the taunts of Thy executioners, the innocent blood of those murdered near Bazar and Kryty, in Kingiri and Vorkuta. For the heroic deaths of of the heroes of the Ukrainian Nation and the Ukrainian National Revolution: Col. Yevhen Konovalets, Basarabova, Holovinskiy, Shukhevych, Bandera and the glorious deaths of Danylyshyn and Bilas, and thousands of others whom we do not know, whose bones were tossed to the wind or buried in secret places.
Burn with life-giving fire all the weakness in my heart. May I not know fear, may I know hesitate. Strengthen my spirit, temper my will, and dwell in my heart! In prisons and in harsh underground life, grow me to the ranks of light. In these ranks may I find sweet death, a death of agonies for Thee, and I shall melt into Thee, I shall live eternally in Thee, Eternal Ukraine, powerful and one!
Translation: Lidia Wolanskyj Continue reading
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