On the Eastern Front of Ukraine, the Funny Life of an Influencer Soldier

In the middle of the ruins, Rouslan has a serious face. His large combat knife in hand, he concentrates so as not to cry… Chopping onions, even a few kilometers from the trenches, is not easy.

Rouslan Mokrytsky, 32, is an influencer. His long mustache that highlights an infectious smile is known to the 131,600 people who make up his community on TikTok.

“Frame lower with your phone,” he explains, didactically, to a comrade in arms, a cameraman for a day. “Close up on my fingers, there.”

In the picture, his hands, scarred by shrapnel, deftly work onions.

The description on his page sums up his life: “A cook in the hell of war”. Half-star chef of Ukrainian social networks, half-soldier.

That day, he revisits a classic of Italian cuisine: pasta all'arrabbiata.

The day before, he was a drone pilot in the “Toretsk hell” where Russian forces have been trying to break through for months, raining down gliding bombs.

– Escape –

Under fire since the beginning of the war, Ruslan needed an escape.

“After the missions, there were, let's say, a lot of horrible and stressful images,” Ruslan explains. “I needed to recover mentally.”

Ruslan Mokrytsky, a Ukrainian soldier and influencer, is filmed for a TikTok video while preparing a pasta dish, on July 25, 2024 in the Donetsk region © AFP – Anatolii STEPANOV

To try to forget the horror, he immerses himself in films, music, reading, walks despite the bombs… Nothing works.

“I got to the point where I said to myself that it would be cool to film myself, making fries for example.”

The success exceeded his expectations with 3 million views. Ruslan then also involved his battalion friends, who called their wives to find recipes.

Ruslan Mokrytsky, a Ukrainian soldier and influencer, is filmed for a TikTok video while preparing a pasta dish, on July 25, 2024 in the Donetsk region © AFP – Anatolii STEPANOV

“Everyone was joking,” he explains in his fatigues. “It's not just me who is rebuilding myself mentally, but everyone around me.” These sessions offer “an hour or two” of lightness, an unusual feeling on the Donbass front.

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His comrade, Ivan, 25, gets caught up in the camera game and enjoys this moment of respite. “When I film Ruslan, I don't think about the war,” he says, happy, moreover, to be able to eat a “good meal.”

On the TikTok page, the content scrolls, alternating between raw images of war and recipes cooked with members of its community.

Because, in addition to its psychological benefit, “vital” according to Rouslan, this space serves as a link with civilians.

Ruslan Mokrytsky, a Ukrainian soldier and influencer, is filmed for a TikTok video while preparing a pasta dish, on July 25, 2024 in the Donetsk region © AFP – Anatolii STEPANOV

For the influencer, “if you don't have contact with your family, you can go crazy.” Conversely, the videos allow civilians to keep informed about what is happening in the East.

Leaning over his small light wood table, Rouslan grabs a 12.7 caliber bullet case that serves as a pepper shaker.

With humor and derision, the robust cook with the jovial face plays with his environment, using products found in the devastated cities he travels through.

– Soldier Ambassador –

Thanks to his face, he has made a name for himself. “An energy drink company approached me,” he explains, to make him an ambassador.

“They sent packs of drinks to the unit and helped me when I was wounded in combat,” he said, wringing his hands still marked by the scars.

Ruslan Mokrytsky, Ukrainian soldier and influencer, on July 25, 2024 in the Donetsk region © AFP – Anatolii STEPANOV

After two and a half years of war, the donations that initially poured in have started to decline and the fame of influencers like Ruslan is rekindling the fervor of civilians.

“Russians also watch my videos,” he assures, with a wry smile.

“They see that we are ordinary people defending their country, not fascists or whatever,” he says, in a reference to Moscow's narrative that said it wanted to “denazify” Ukraine as a pretext for the invasion in February 2022.

According to him, propaganda has become “a war in its own right”.

That is why, despite his very demanding obligations as a soldier, Rouslan invests himself almost daily in his videos, juggling the two facets of his strange life.

“When one of my friends died, it took me four days to come to my senses, but I was ready to leave for a more or less normal life.”

Final scene: as the aroma of hot parmesan rises above the ruins, Ruslan empties his plate of pasta into his comrades' plastic plates.

A smile appears on their faces.

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