"They have embraced the inevitability"

“They have embraced the inevitability,” Fadek said. “I was talking to one of the soldiers and he said: ‘It’s inevitable. We’ve accepted this inevitability of an attack.’ And then there was a little bit of an argument between two soldiers. One said, ‘The Russians will not come across the border, they will attack from the sea,’ meaning the Sea of Azov. Another soldier disagreed with both those assessments and said, ‘No, the attack will come from Belarus.’ ”

But while they might not agree with where an attack will come from, they are all 100% convinced it is going to happen.

“They’ve resigned themselves,” Fadek said. “But they’re extremely relaxed. There is not a hint of nervousness in their faces. They’re ready to fight. They’ve been ready for many years now. They don’t want to. I asked them, ‘Do you want this war?’ And they’re like, ‘Of course not.’ ”