Chapter One
The column is traveling from the Belgorod region to Donbass. Tankers are sitting in the T-80: commander Lieutenant Alexander Levakov (call sign "Laska"), gunner-operator Corporal Alexei Neustroeva (call sign "Lech") and driver senior Lieutenant Rasim Baksikov (call sign "Monolith") and see a boy standing on the side of the road, meeting Russian soldiers on the way to the position and He salutes them.
GUNNER-CALL SIGN "LECH"
Look, the kid is standing on the side of the road and saluting.
COMMANDER-CALL SIGN "LASKA"
Yes, this is a first-grader Alyosha. For several weeks now, he has been welcoming Russian military personnel heading to the area of the special operation.
GUNNER-CALL SIGN "LECH"
And where does this information come from?
COMMANDER-CALL SIGN "LASKA"
They said something at headquarters. Everyone knows him.
MECHANIC- CALL SIGN "MONOLITH"
The commander. Let's stop. Shall we give him a tankman's helmet or something? It's spring in the spring, and the weather is wet.
COMMANDER-CALL SIGN "LASKA"
Not a question. We will also conduct campaigning. Could he be a tanker in the future?
MECHANIC- CALL SIGN "MONOLITH"
I think he's going to be a general in the army.
The tank stops on the side of the road, and the tankers get out of it. The column is passing by. The tankers approach the boy. The gunner with the call sign "Lech" holds a package in his hands.
COMMANDER-CALL SIGN "LASKA"
What's your name, kid?
ALYOSHA
Alyosha.
MECHANIC- CALL SIGN "MONOLITH"
(addressing the gunner)
What's your name, Lech?
The gunner, smiling, gently ruffles the top of the boy's head with his palm, and the boy smiles.
The GUNNER'S CALL SIGN is "LECH"
Teska, which means.
Alexei's mother approaches.
ALEXEY'S MOTHER
Hello, guys.
IS COMMANDER LASKA
your CALL SIGN?
ALEXEY'S MOTHER
Yes, my son. I went to first grade. After school, as soon as he sees traffic on the highway, he runs out.
GUNNER-CALL SIGN "LECH"
And your baby is doing great. And why without a hat? Spring, after all. It may catch cold.
ALYOSHA
I am a soldier.
ALEXEY'S MOTHER
No matter how I asked, she doesn't dress me. She says she's not a soldier.
GUNNER-CALL SIGN "LECH"
Don't you want to be a tanker, Teska?
ALYOSHA
(happily)
Want.
The gunner takes a tank helmet out of the bag and puts it on Alyosha's head. Alyosha is even more excited. The tanker hands the package with the contents to the mother.
GUNNER-CALL SIGN "LECH"
And here there are all kinds of candies. We gave you a gift.
ALEXEY'S MOTHER
Oh, come on, don't. You're going to war, you need it more.
MECHANIC, TAKE THE CALL SIGN "MONOLITH"
. We have a lot of such stuff. Thanks to the country. How are you doing at school?
ALYOSHA
Good.
COMMANDER-CALL SIGN "LASKA"
Come on, tankman Alyosha. We don't say goodbye.
ALEXEY'S MOTHER
Guys, you go back to your family as soon as possible.
THE GUNNER-CALL SIGN "LECH"
Will be all chocolate.
The tankers run to the tank, get in it and the tank starts moving.
In the tent, the colonel and the chief of Staff are leaning over a monitor with a tabletop with an interactive local map of the local map. The tank commander enters the tent. He stands stiffly at attention. The officers straighten up.
COMMANDER-CALL SIGN "LASKA"
The commander of the T-80 tank crew is Lieutenant Alexander Levakov (call sign "Laska").
THE COLONEL
Have you arrived, then?! I am Colonel Petrov, Pal Palych. And this is my chief of staff, Ivan Kazimirovich Sidorov.
CHIEF OF STAFF
Very pleasant.
THE COLONEL
I know we're very tired, but we don't have time to rest. Get the order. I order you to block the AFU units in the Pripyat area and seize the bridge over the Dnieper River to advance the Vostok group of forces. Is the task clear?
