Norra(saami) vabatahtlik Sandra meediku ja snaiprina UKR rahvusvahelises üksuses
https://twitter.com/DefenceU/status/1512728126190727171Norrakeelne artikkel (Google translate)temast-tegu saami rahvusest endise parlamendiliikme ja meditsiinitöötajagaOver a month ago, Sandra Andersen Eira (35) traveled from Olderfjord in Porsanger, to Ukraine to become a foreign warrior. Sandra says that she will never forget what met her when she crossed the Ukrainian border.
- We crossed the border at 04 o'clock at night. It was still winter, snow and cold, says Sandra Andersen Eira to Ságat.
What met her were young girls who went with young children, all the way down to infancy, on the run from the war.
- They had packed the children in the best they had, and had the suitcase in tow. I have aunts at that age - it could have been us, says Sandra.
Sami Parliamentary representative and health workerSandra grew up in Olderfjord, which is part of the Sea Sámi KOS area (Kistrand, Olderfjord and Smørfjord) in Porsanger municipality.
The team that Sandra is part of, has both offensive and defensive assignments. In the beginning, Sandra worked in the sanitation, but gradually she has been given other tasks. Here she gets training in sniping (in the middle). Photo: Private
Here, the sea has been her closest neighbor - a sea that has always been close to her, and which has made her accustomed to cold and extreme conditions.
From 2017 to 2021, Sandra was a Sami parliamentary representative, elected for the Norwegian Sami National Association (NSR) from the Ávjovárri constituency. Here she was a member of the business and culture committee and the primary industry committee. Now she is the first deputy to the Sami Parliament for NSR in Ávjovárre constituency.
In recent years, Sandra has been engaged in shark fishing and also worked as a health worker.
- What made you travel to Ukraine?
- Because I felt morally obligated, because it is Europe. Once upon a time, it was we who needed help, and then it was they who lined up. I feel it is our time to give something back, Sandra answers.
She adds that she felt it was right for her to do this.
- There was no doubt, this is what I want and this is what feels right for me. I will never regret that I traveled here, Sandra emphasizes.
She adds that if you were ever in doubt before you reached the border, you got the motivation to continue there.
No expectationsBefore she left, Sandra had no particular thoughts or expectations about what to expect. It is not possible to prepare for something like this.
- Most people I have met here say that this is a war that is different from others. Of course, it is an advantage to have war experience when you arrive, but no matter how much training you have, you are not prepared for this war.
Sandra is part of a smaller team, where she is the only woman. She says that the rest of the team are 75th rangers from the USA and an Englishman.
From 2017 to 2021, Sandra Andersen Eira was a Sami parliamentary representative, elected for the Norwegian Sami National Association (NSR) from the Ávjovárri constituency. Photo: Marie Louise Somby
- My whole team is exclusive and consists of special soldiers. These are people with experience of all the wars of their age.
She further says that it is about a month since the team was deployed to the northern front in Ukraine, and she was there as a combat medic (paramedic).
- That's what I started as. We were in the Kyiv area and there I was in combat medic. After that, I have taken on other positions and tasks.
In the front lineShe says that they were bombed for several days in a row, and that she made good use of the position in combat medic. The conditions were not the best and there was no question of a field hospital.
- It was a drop-off point, and we found a building with a basement that we stayed in during the bombings.
After being in the Kyiv area, the team was deployed to the front line in the south.
- There is still a lot of bombing, and we have both offensive and defensive missions. We are under Ukrainian command, she says.
Sandra can not say much about what kind of tasks she has had after she went on to be a paramedic, but she says that she has received sniper training, and that her team leader is a skilled sniper.
Snipers often operate in pairs, with one observer (spotter) and the other firing on instructions from the spotter.
The team provides securitySandra says she has never felt scared when she has been to Ukraine. On the contrary, she has not felt safer than in the front line with her team.
- Down here it is a different world and a different life. The unity you find in a war, you find it nowhere else.
She goes on to say that they live together at all times, and that they are willing to die for each other.
What she's afraid of is going home again.
- I do not know how to cope with going home. Be without my team, be back to normal. If there's one thing I'm afraid of, it's going back to it.
Before traveling to Ukraine, Sandra chose to inform only her two siblings and a couple of friends in the United States.
- I knew that my siblings would be able to behave calmly. Someone had to know, in case something happens. But I saw no reason to worry unnecessarily.
In readinessShe can tell about an everyday life where they are in constant readiness. Where the abnormal has become normal, and that one is constantly prepared for anything to happen.
- There are many deaths. You know it can happen to you and others at any time.
When Ságat asks Sandra if there has been any change in the situation, she answers that if there is a change, it is that there is even more bombing.
- The Russians aim to meet civilians. Hospitals, schools, hotels - where people gather. Definitely military bases, but it's something to be reckoned with. It is civilians who are targets, and what is going on here is not ok in any way. Everything from cluster bombs to rapes of civilians, and they shoot down civilians in the open street. It's not ok.
- We ask the rest of the world to shut down the airspace. If not, at least send us weapons so we can shoot them down. There is only so much you can do from ground level, says Sandra.
Lei potato soupEveryone on the team must have lost a lot of weight since they arrived in Ukraine. Sandra explains that it is a bit like fishing life, little comfort.
- The army gives us food. I'm not going to say it's a luxury, I'm shit tired of potato soup to put it that way. If you are on a regular base, you have a regular military diet and three meals a day. If you are out in the field, you either have food or not. Where we have been the last week, there has been a lot of potato soup.
When Ságat talks to Sandra on Thursday night, she is at a base for the first time in a long time. That means a little more comfort, maybe a couple of quieter days and access to the internet.
But she currently has no plans to return home.
- We will stay here until there is no need for us anymore, concludes Sandra Andersen Eira.
https://www.sagat.no/nyheter/jeg-foler- ... 19.1.31984
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