The story of this artefact is an epic of the heroism, resilience and determination of the Defenders of Ukraine – the soldiers of the 118th Separate Mechanised Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The 118th Separate Mechanised Brigade is a record-breaking brigade: for more than 1,600 days, its soldiers have held the line near the village of Mala Tokmachka in the Zaporizhzhia sector, not allowing the Russian army to advance a single metre onto Ukrainian soil. When Museum researcher Iryna Kotsab’iuk learned about them, she asked the soldiers for an artefact that could vividly represent the warriors of the 118th for future generations.
What happened next exceeded our boldest expectations.
At the beginning of June this year, the brigade repelled the largest motorcycle assault by the rashist army – 26 motorcycles, quad bikes and buggies were destroyed by the defenders of Mala Tokmachka. As Roman Burlakov (“Advokat”), an officer of the 2nd Mechanised Battalion of the 118th Separate Mechanised Brigade, told us, they usually destroy all enemy equipment using drones. But this time, the soldiers preserved one of the motorcycles. A whole special operation was then devised to deliver the artefact to a safe location and, later, to the Museum.
“In the arid steppes of the Zaporizhzhia region, the soldiers had to wait for fog, rain or strong winds in order to make a sortie to the line of contact without fear of Russian drones. At the first opportunity, a special group set out on an expedition to retrieve the enemy vehicle. They had to make three such ‘sorties’, and the entire process took about two months,” Lieutenant Roman Burlakov said at the Museum.
The artefact was placed in the exhibition in a symbolic juxtaposition with a German BMW motorcycle used by the Nazi army in Ukraine during the Second World War.
“This draws a clear parallel between Nazi and rashist aggression. Both then and now, Ukrainians have had to fight for the very right to exist on their own land against a powerful and well-equipped enemy that uses every means available for conquest. This is a very powerful exhibition object,” the head of the Museum emphasised.
Major Dmytro Pelykh (“Feik”), Head of the Communications Section of the 118th Separate Mechanised Brigade, said that the brigade commander supported the idea, while the commander of the 2nd Mechanised Battalion, call sign “Modzhahed”, and his personnel undertook its implementation. The officer noted “that all of this became possible thanks to the determination and courage of the brigade’s soldiers and, most importantly, the patriotic stance and personal involvement of every participant in the process”.
This motorcycle is more than just a trophy. It is evidence of the ingenuity, endurance and strength of Ukrainian soldiers, who turn even enemy equipment into proof of their own superiority.
Today it has taken its place in the exhibition as material evidence of the current war – alongside the history of the past, which is repeating itself once again, but with a different ending.
Glory to Ukraine!
Glory to the Heroes!
