Staff Sergeant Grigory Pivovarov, call sign “Jew”, is a citizen of Israel who came to Ukraine during the Maidan and has been fighting against Russian aggression since 2014. His interview with the 24th Separate Assault Regiment “Aidar” is not only a personal story of a fighter but also an important conversation about the IDF, Ukraine, citizenship, anti-Semitism, Russian propaganda, and the price of a true choice.
An Israeli who chose Ukraine not with words, but with service
On April 30, 2026, the 24th Separate Assault Regiment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine “Aidar” published a video interview with Grigory Pivovarov — a staff sergeant, fighter with the call sign “Jew” and a citizen of Israel who has been fighting for Ukraine since 2014.
The video is titled: “Jew. About Israel, the IDF, Maidan, citizenship, and the war since 2014“.
Link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cr_hX2mA-f8
This is not just a story of a foreigner who found himself in the Ukrainian war. It is the story of a person who went through the Maidan, the volunteer movement, the front, injuries, command positions, and still speaks of Ukraine as his home.
At the beginning of the interview, Grigory Pivovarov introduces himself directly: his name is Grigory, call sign — “Jew”, he is a fighter of the “Aidar” regiment, and he is a foreigner, a citizen of Israel, who has been fighting for Ukraine’s independence since 2014.
For the Israeli audience, this story is especially important. It intersects several lines at once: the experience of the IDF, Jewish identity, the Ukrainian war for freedom, Russian aggression, and the personal choice of a person who could live in another country but decided to stay with those he calls brothers.
From Maidan to “Aidar”: how Grigory Pivovarov’s journey began
According to Pivovarov, his arrival in Ukraine during the Maidan was largely accidental.
Before that, he lived in Barcelona, engaged in club projects and tourism. He was invited to Ukraine by a medic friend who needed strong people for evacuating the wounded. Grigory recalls that his friend explained simply: he was a former Israeli soldier, not afraid of blood, and could help where people capable of acting under pressure were needed.
He arrived in Kyiv in February 2014. He didn’t make it to Mariinsky on February 18, but found himself on the barricades on Khreshchatyk when the APC was burning. After a concussion, he was evacuated along with other participants in the events.
Then came the victory of the Maidan, the student movement, alarming news from Crimea, and the gradual realization that everything was not ending with a change of power. Ukraine was entering a war, although at that time many still did not call it a war in the full sense.
In May 2014, Pivovarov joined “Aidar”. In the interview, he specifies the date: on May 19, 2014, he arrived at the unit. Later there were transitions, legal complexities due to his status as a foreigner, service in other structures, and a return to “Aidar”, where in February 2016 he officially became a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Why exactly “Aidar”
One of the strong moments of the interview is the answer to the question of why he has remained in “Aidar” for so many years.
Pivovarov says that this unit reminds him of the unit where he served in the IDF: people from different walks of life come there, and they are made into strong fighters. According to him, “Aidar” does not chase PR but simply does its job.
This phrase clearly shows the nerve of the entire conversation. For him, the army is not a decoration, not a slogan, and not a place for beautiful photos. It is an environment where it is tested who is next to you, who endures, who returns after injury, and who does not abandon their own.
What is the 24th Separate Assault Regiment “Aidar” and why is this name so important
The 24th Separate Assault Regiment “Aidar” is the 24th Separate Assault Regiment “Aidar”, a combat unit of the Ukrainian Ground Forces.
The “Aidar” itself grew out of a volunteer battalion that appeared in 2014 after the Maidan and the beginning of Russian aggression against Ukraine.
The name is associated with the Aidar River in the Luhansk region. In Ukrainian military memory, this name has become one of the symbols of the first months of resistance when volunteer formations often covered those sections of the front where the state system was still being rebuilt under the reality of a large war.
The official website of the regiment emphasizes that “Aidar” began its journey in 2014 and has always been a combat unit. Among the values of the regiment are indicated ideology, brotherhood, continuity, internal culture of the fighter, personal responsibility, and result.
This is important for understanding the video itself. Pivovarov’s interview is not a separate biography against the backdrop of war. It is the story of a person who found himself inside a unit with a very strong volunteer tradition.
The official site of “Aidar” also describes the procedure for joining the regiment: application, recruiter call, selection interview, medical examination, document check, contract signing, and start of service. Among the requirements are age, readiness to serve in the army vertical, physical fitness, absence of convictions, and readiness to work in a team.
NANews — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency draws attention to this connection: the story of Grigory Pivovarov shows how the Ukrainian war became a matter not only for the citizens of Ukraine but also for people who consciously chose the side of freedom — not by passport, but by conviction.
How Russia views “Aidar”
In Russia, “Aidar” is viewed extremely hostilely — both at the level of propaganda and at the level of official legal position.
In the Russian version, “Aidar” is called a “national battalion”, “extremists”, and a “terrorist organization”. In December 2023, the FSB included the Ukrainian “Aidar” in the Russian list of terrorist organizations. Before that, the unit had already been recognized in the Russian Federation as extremist and banned.
For Russian propaganda, “Aidar” is one of the symbols of Ukrainian resistance that needs to be demonized. Like “Azov” or “Right Sector”, it is usually shown not as a unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but as “punishers”, “Nazis”, and “militants”. This is how Moscow tries to present the war against Ukraine not as RF aggression, but as a struggle against supposedly “extremists”.
This status is also used by Russian courts. Ukrainian military personnel can be prosecuted simply for serving in “Aidar”. For example, there is a known case of military medic Victoria Tkachenko, whom a Russian court sentenced precisely for serving in a unit recognized by the Russian Federation as “terrorist”.
On the front, “Aidar” is perceived by Russian military and pro-Russian militants as a dangerous and hated enemy. This coincides with what Grigory Pivovarov says in the interview: according to him, for the enemy, “Aidar” is a very scary name, and freed “Aidar” fighters can be “counted on the fingers”.
In short: in Russia, “Aidar” is officially banned, demonized in propaganda, and among Russian military personnel, it is perceived as one of the most hated Ukrainian combat symbols since 2014.
IDF, Israel, and the Ukrainian front
In the interview, there is a separate layer important for readers in Israel. Pivovarov is a citizen of Israel, a former Israeli soldier, a person who knows from the inside what military culture is, responsibility to the unit, and the experience of war with an enemy that uses Soviet and Russian weapons.
He says that his father lives in Israel, is a family doctor, and a captain of medicine in the reserve. He also talks about his younger brother, who served in the IDF, was a paramedic-shooter, and then became the head of the medical service.
In one of the most indicative fragments, Pivovarov connects the Israeli and Ukrainian experience through a common source of threat.
He reminds that the Soviet Union sponsored Israel’s enemies, and modern Russia supports Hamas, Hezbollah, and other forces fighting against Israel. According to him, ATGMs, mortars, rockets, “Grads”, and “Katyushas” have a clear origin in this military chain.
For the Israeli reader, this is not abstract geopolitics. It is an attempt to explain: Ukraine and Israel face different fronts of one big problem — aggressive regimes and their allies who use terror, missile strikes, propaganda, and war against the civilian population.
“My home is Ukraine”
One of the strongest answers in the video is to the question: where is his home.
Pivovarov answers: “My home is Ukraine.”
He further explains why Russian manipulation of the anti-Semitism theme became one of the reasons for his internal resistance. He says he was outraged by stories that Ukrainians are anti-Semites and points to historical facts that Russian propaganda either distorts or completely ignores.
He mentions Ukrainians among the Righteous Among the Nations, talks about the Jewish pages of Ukrainian history, about the connections between the Ukrainian national movement and Zionists, and also recalls Vladimir Jabotinsky and Symon Petliura. In his logic, this is not an academic lecture, but a personal response to Russia’s attempt to steal Ukraine’s historical subjectivity and present Ukrainians as enemies of Jews.
Yes, the Ukrainian-Jewish history is complex. It had tragedies, pain, pogroms, the Holocaust, collaborationism, Soviet lies, and real conflicts of memory.
But that is why such testimonies are important. Pivovarov does not offer a primitive picture. He talks about how Russian propaganda uses anti-Semitism as a tool to poison attitudes towards Ukraine and hide its own aggression.
Injuries, command, and citizenship that is still not there
In the interview, Grigory Pivovarov talks about returning after injuries because he could not leave his brothers. The first injury — because his own pulled him out. The second — because he needed to return. The third — because, in his words, he was ashamed to leave the unit after being appointed platoon commander. He doesn’t even consider another injury serious, although it was recorded.
His path within the army is also indicative: a simple infantryman, grenade launcher, squad leader, chief sergeant of the platoon, platoon commander, acting company commander, and then work in the regiment’s recruitment.
This is the biography of a person who did not come for symbolic participation. He really lived this war.
And against this background, the topic of citizenship sounds especially acute. Pivovarov says that there are awards, ranks, injuries, service since 2014, but there is still no Ukrainian citizenship. He lists his distinctions and does not hide his disappointment: the state he defends has not yet become his state legally.
This is one of the main meanings of the video. Ukraine knows how to accept blood, service, and loyalty. But the bureaucratic system does not always know how to quickly and honestly recognize those who have already proven their belonging to the country by deed.
Appeal to Ukrainians
The final part of the interview is an appeal to Ukrainians who are unsure whether to serve and where exactly to go.
Pivovarov speaks harshly but without theatrics: the enemy does not sleep. He recalls the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Mariupol, Bakhmut, Kurakhovo, Vuhledar — places he saw alive and then saw destroyed. His argument is simple: if people do not want to see this near their homes, the state needs to be defended now.
He urges not to wait until the TCC takes a person, but to choose a unit in advance, contact familiar military personnel, look for those with whom you want to serve, and make a conscious decision.
Separately, he invites to “Aidar”, emphasizing that the unit has retained the spirit of the first volunteer battalion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and its commanders have gone through real battles, injuries, and the front path.
Why this video is important for Ukraine, Israel, and the Jewish audience
The story of Grigory Pivovarov breaks several propaganda schemes at once.
For years, Russia has been trying to present Ukraine as a country alien to Jews. But before the viewer is a citizen of Israel with the call sign “Jew”, who came to Ukraine, saw the Maidan, went to war, has been serving in a Ukrainian unit since 2014, and says that his home is Ukraine.
Russia tries to portray the Ukrainian army as an artificial construct. But before the viewer is a person who compares the spirit of “Aidar” with what he knows from the IDF: responsibility, camaraderie, different people in one line, commanders with combat experience, and readiness to return to their own.
Russia tries to use the theme of anti-Semitism as a weapon against Ukraine. But before the viewer is a Jew and Israeli who speaks directly about the manipulation of this theme and about how Ukrainian history is much deeper and more complex than Russian clichés.
For Israel, this video is also not secondary. It reminds that Russia’s war against Ukraine and the war of Iran’s terrorist allies against Israel are in the same moral field: it is about the right of a people to live freely, protect their home, and not be destroyed by someone else’s imperial or terrorist will.
Open ending
The video of the 24th Separate Assault Regiment “Aidar” is a presentation not only of one fighter. It is a presentation of choice.
Grigory Pivovarov could have stayed in Israel, Europe, or any other point in his biography. But he found himself in Ukraine, stayed after the Maidan, went through the war since 2014, and continues to speak of this country as home, even without a Ukrainian passport.
Perhaps this is the main question for the state and society: who really becomes Ukrainian — the one who received the document, or the one who has been defending the country for years at the cost of their own health, blood, and life?
The video leaves this question open. But Grigory Pivovarov’s answer has already sounded on the front.