From: Euromaiden Press — Good morning World! Good morning Ukraine!
Yaroslav Breus, known as “Yarik,” was an amusing contestant on MasterChef. The same guy now serves as a military cook with the 3rd Brigade under the call sign “Kulinar.” Before the war, he worked as a top chef in select Kyiv restaurants.
On 24 February 2022, Yaroslav volunteered to defend Ukraine, joining the Azov Territorial Defense unit, which later became part of the 3rd Assault Brigade. Explaining his decision to defend his country, Yaroslav states simply, “I wanted to do something, to be useful in this difficult time.”
In his role as a senior cook in a logistics platoon, Yaroslav prepares meals for soldiers at their positions and training grounds, sometimes cooking up to 2,000 meals three times a day. “First of all, the food must be high in calories – the guys love borshch, mashed potatoes with cutlets – it’s like therapy for them, the food they’re used to at home,” he says.
Even in the field, Yaroslav experiments with recipes using whatever ingredients and spices are available. He prepares borshch, cutlets, pasta carbonara, and ribs, and his team even bakes pies and pizza.
Cooking often takes place under extreme conditions, with Yaroslav recalling moments when rockets fell nearby, but the work had to go on. “There was a lot going on. We’ve learned to distinguish by ear what’s flying where because, despite the shelling, the guys need their morning porridge.”
Yaroslav expresses deep pride in his fellow soldiers from the 3rd Brigade, admiring their motivation and patriotism. Looking ahead to the future, Yaroslav dreams of traveling across Ukraine and helping to rebuild the country after victory.
Voice of Ukraine 