Introducing: Call Sign Condor: Latino Soldiers Fighting in Ukraine

We are in a Soviet-era apartment block in Ukraine.

Ninth floor.

We took the stairs.

The elevator usually doesn't work due to power outages.

The apartment is kind of cozy, though.

I like to think it could have belonged to a babushka, a Soviet grandma.

Low ceilings, carpeted floors, faded beige wallpaper, patterned with tiny brown flowers.

A contrast with a military-issued sleeping bag on the bed.

Large boots sit by the entrance, alongside camouflage backpacks, jackets, helmets.

The smell of tobacco and coffee hangs in the room.

This is where Condor, the birthday boy, is living temporarily.

Condor tells me he should have tidied things up a little.

In his room, there's a glass-enclosed balcony that he uses as a smoking area.

After coffee, we step outside.

There's a nice view of the city, Kriviri from here.

The city where Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, was born.

Yes, he was born here.

I asked Gondor if he's not afraid of living so high up on one of the top floors.

I learned during a security training that it's better to stay on a lower floor when you're in a war zone because of the drones.

He

shrugs.

Nowhere is safe, he says.

It can happen anywhere at any time.

Something you hear all the time in Ukraine.

Condor is this soldier's call sign.

We are in a Soviet-era apartment block in Ukraine.

Ninth floor.

We took the stairs.

The elevator usually doesn't work due to power outages.

The apartment is kind of cozy, though.

I like to think it could have belonged to a babushka, a Soviet grandma.

Low ceilings, carpeted floors, faded beige wallpaper, patterned with tiny brown flowers.

A contrast with a military-issued sleeping bag on the bed.

Large boots sit by the entrance, alongside camouflage backpacks, jackets, helmets.

The smell of tobacco and coffee hangs in the room.

This is where Condor, the birthday boy, is living temporarily.

Condor tells me he should have tidied things up a little.

In his room, there's a glass-enclosed balcony that he uses as a smoking area.

After coffee, we step outside.

There's a nice view of the city, Kriviri from here.

The city where Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, was born.

Yes, he was born here.

I asked Gondor if he's not afraid of living so high up on one of the top floors.

I learned during a security training that it's better to stay on a lower floor when you're in a war zone because of the drones.

He

shrugs.

Nowhere is safe, he says.

It can happen anywhere at any time.

Something you hear all the time in Ukraine.

Condor is this soldier's call sign.