Viclore

This is part of a series of interviews that I conducted as part of The Chevrons Project. Michelle is a regular volunteer in Ukraine, and has designed a chevron for a past project we both worked on.

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Vic: First off, can we start off with who you are and what you’ve been doing with regards to Ukraine?

Michelle: I’m Michelle, and I’m an illustrator by profession, and I have been travelling to Ukraine regularly since the middle of March 2023. I have done a variety of different tasks and volunteer work, I started out working in a kitchen preparing meal kits for the soldiers at the front line, I’ve subsequently help to weave camouflage nets, I’ve made trench candles for the soldiers in trenches in the winter, and I’m now a volunteer at a drone factory when I’m over there- building drones and helping another friend construct the trigger mechanisms for the grenade droppers on the drones.

Vic: Cool, thank you. In your time volunteering at the kitchen, I’m to understand you helped them with designing their own chevron that they could gift to volunteers?

Michelle: Yes.

Vic: Could you describe the chevron to me?

Michelle: I was originally approached with the idea of wanting to create like a battle babusia[1]. The whole thing about the kitchen and the way the fundraising was working was talking about how the babusias were busy making the food to be sent to the guys on the front. So the front facing idea was babusias, battle babusias. So, it started out with a traditional Ukrainian granny, but toting an RPG. It ended up having 2 variations of this because the guy who did the fundraising and the soldiers… The battle babusia was the one that was by far the most popular, but the ladies were less so, because there was a wide range of ages, and the ladies were less keen to be depicted as little scarf wearing babusias. So, I ended up doing this almost witchy kind of Valkyrie with flying hair woman with her RPG and then I did one with the battle babusia with the little scarf around the neck over the hair and the RPG. There were two versions which ended up kind of being done.

Vic: Cool, and who ended up being given these chevrons?

Michelle: My understanding is it went out to a combination of volunteers that volunteered at the kitchen, followed by volunteers who came to the county and spent time there, and where the meals were delivered to soldiers they were also given some of these battle babusia chevrons.

Vic: Cool, thank you. How did it make you feel to have a chevron that you designed handed out to people and sent to soldiers?

Michelle: Absolutely amazing!  Especially since it was early in my time travelling to Ukraine, it was really great to have such a tangible thing that I’d created reaching the guys on the front.

Vic: Did you receive any chevrons from guys on the front in return?

Michelle:  I didn’t, I didn’t. I didn’t like get ones from the guys that received them, I have though received chevrons from other soldiers at other times.

Vic: What kind of events were precursors to you being gifted chevrons?

Michelle: So we also have in the volunteer groups, some of the guys are part of drone units and stuff like that that and are in some of the volunteering chats. One of the guys, I gave him quite a bit of support in chats, and when we finally met in real life, he gave me a chevron at that point.

Vic: What was the significance to you of receiving that chevron from him?

Michelle: Well it was very- I wasn’t expecting it!  I absolutely had no expectation of anything, so it was actually very emotional when he started suddenly like desperately looking and giving me the chevron- well it was very emotional. I mean I at different times during the last 3 years- it’s not necessarily with the chevrons but for myself personally my support for Ukraine is quite emotional. I get quite emotional.

Vic: It’s okay

Michelle: Whenever you feel like something has made a difference to people, whether its soldiers of civilians, it really is quite impactful and very moving, and I’m inclined to have a good old sob.

Vic: It’s understandable, emotions run high in this environment, yeah.

Michelle: Yeah.

Vic: So what do you do with the chevrons that you receive?

Michelle: Well, I live on a boat so I don’t have anywhere I can display them, but I keep them all. Anything that I consider valuable that I’ve got from Ukraine I keep carefully wrapped up and put away somewhere safe. I know that some people put up big boards but I don’t have wall space where I could do that, so for me I’m preserving them more as the historic and obviously sentimental things. I’ve no idea what I’ll do if I get to the point where I’m on a bigger boat or something like that I’ll probably do something more significant then, but for now I’m just- I mean I’ve got a bunch of things.

I’ve got first edition “Russian warship go fuck yourself” stamps which I won- well, there was an auction, and I got those. I think those both sentimentally and possibly historically in the future will be quote “valuable” as well. I’ve got one of the Azovstal bracelets, there’s a bunch of things that I’ve got carefully wrapped and tucked away and protected. And my chevrons are with them. As I said I don’t have them displayed but that’s because I don’t have anywhere suitable that I can display them on the boat.

Vic: Did you purchase chevrons yourself?  I know there’s a lot on sale around the souvenir shops in Lviv.

Michelle: I haven’t bought any for myself- well actually for Front Line Kit, the newer drone building side of things, I did buy one of those from the marketplace from their lady there. I probably could have asked Richard for one, but I decided to support the lady at the market. Other than that, I haven’t bought myself chevrons, but I have however bought chevrons for charity fundraiser things.

Over the summer last year I drove a 4×4 from the UK to Ukraine, and that particular group they did a lot of fundraisers. One of the girls that brought me all the stuff that was going in the back of the 4×4- the humanitarian stuff, she asked me to keep an eye out so I did do a pass through the markets and went and bought all of the interesting or cute or humorous chevrons. I gave those to her so she could use them for fundraising. All of my chevrons are given to me in some way.

Vic: What kind of things did you look for when you were buying the chevrons to give to the lady back in the UK?

Michelle: Mostly humorous chevrons. So, there were Flork[2] chevrons.

Vic: Oh yeah.

Michelle: There were some NAFO[3] chevrons, gosh I can’t remember- I bought like a little stack of them. Flork and NAFO were definitely in the mix. I was looking for something quirkier rather than something like the 93^rd or something. I kind of feel like it wouldn’t really be right for me to buy that and then give it for a fundraiser. So, I was trying to find quirkier more amusing chevrons for the fundraising.

Vic: So you said that you’d feel bad if you bought a 93^rd one and gave it to someone, did you feel like the kitchen one that you designed was your chevron? Did you feel a personal attachment to it?

Michelle: Yes, but it was also the kitchens chevron if you know what I mean. It’s like I was proud to have been able to contribute to creating the chevron, but I didn’t feel like – it wasn’t my place to have ownership of that chevron. It was for the work in support of the guys at the front line that the kitchen was doing. It was the kitchen’s chevron, I’m just fortunate enough to have been able to contribute the creative aspect of it. And yes, I was very happy and proud to have been able to do that and know that there are guys out there that have the battle babusia- that makes me happy, but it’s connected to the food; not to me. It’s the food that they’re eating that the battle babusia has the connection to, because that food is sustaining them- it’s like, my creativity made it look good and be humorous, but it’s the food that’s sustaining them that the chevrons connected to.

Vic: Do you feel that’s a common sentiment, that people need to feel a personal attachment to a chevron to be able to buy it and gift it to someone?

Michelle: I think so, yeah. For me personally, I feel like I would have to earn the right to give a chevron, yeah. That why I stuck to the more humorous ones, because buying the 93^rd, I haven’t done anything to earn the right to give that chevron. And even though I’m now involved with drone building and that drone building might at times be for the 93^rd, that doesn’t entitle me to gift a 93^rd chevron.

I could, I suppose, although I still wouldn’t do it necessarily, gift a Front Line Kit “we don’t build drones” chevron- but that’s as far as it goes, because I have personally built drones. But I wouldn’t be able to gift anything for any of the units that those drones support. If one of those units gifts me a chevron, I could never pass that chevron, if you know what I mean. Because it’s not my place to gift it at that point.

Vic: Okay. So, if one of the units did gift you a chevron, you wouldn’t want to gift it- but would you be able to wear it on your bag? Or on a hat?

Michelle: Yes, I think so. I think that that is good and that is fine, and I actually think there’s a little bit of an emotional connection to that. So, as long as you’re not implying that you ARE 93^rd– I think it’s fine and good to display the chevrons that you’ve been gifted. Say if you’ve got a backpack and you’ve got them on it, that sort of thing- a lot of the volunteers who do the much more dangerous work of actually going close to the front to deliver aid and stuff like that. They do have the units that they are supporting chevrons on their stuff.

Like Trinzu (https://x.com/trinzu) when she has photographs of her stuff you’ll see that she’s got the guys various chevrons, but she’s got much more of a connection in terms that she’s delivering directly to the guys themselves. I do think that it forms a strong- it’s one of those binding things that you receive in return for the support so it does bind you to the guys. I think in the reality of the horror of what is actually happening those chevrons, as horrendous as it is to say, those chevrons- the soldier who gifts you the chevron may not <begins to cry>

Vic: It’s okay, take your time

Michelle: They may not survive, so that chevron obviously becomes so much more important and so much more valuable. And especially if- I’m kind of speaking out of place here, but you get to become aware and know soldiers via social media and through what other volunteers have shared. So when Trinzu has lost guys I’m devastated, but for her it would be so much worse and I imagine the chevrons that she’s received from some of these guys- they become so much more valuable, and it becomes a little part of them. And, yeah. I’m hyper emotional <laughs>

Vic: You’re all good.

<Pause while Michelle calms down>

Vic: Would you say that chevrons have functioned in helping you feel more bonded with Ukraine in general and more engaged in the war?

Michelle: I think for me they are forms of connection, I don’t know- I think I would still be connected regardless, but, they are these moments of connection with individuals rather than the broader thing. For me it’s that the chevrons are connections to individuals where someone will go and want to give you something- and they will take their chevron and they will give it to you because that is a connection to that person, you know? I do think that the giving of chevrons creates a spiders web of connection throughout the military and civilian volunteer ecosystem, where you have all of these moments of one individual connecting to another individual, giving of chevrons, and that in itself creates this web of connection.

Vic: It’d be interesting to try and map them all out, but probably not possible.

Michelle: Yeah of course, because as I said it’s individual moments.

Vic: So when you’re volunteering in Ukraine, do you wear any chevrons?

Michelle: I don’t. Only because I have yet to get myself one of those little sticky things, you know the uhhh

Vic: The Velcro patch things?

Michelle: The Velcro patches. So, every time I go I’m like “I need to get a hat with a Velcro patch” and I never- like with so many things, you just don’t get around to it. So, I keep asking about where to get a hat with a patch thing, but I never actually find the time to get the hat, for example. And it’s just because honestly when I’m volunteering I’m splitting myself between doing my own work and doing volunteer work and then going hunting for a hat just never happens. So, no. But, it is on my eternal to-do list to go and get one of these damned hats so that I can actually at least wear one on a hat. I don’t have any clothing or anything else like that that’s got the Velcro on it to be able to wear it. And I don’t see myself buying a new backpack for that. But the hat at some point- at some point hopefully it will happen and then I’ll be able to wear at least one of them.

Vic: Which one would you choose?

Michelle: Again, because of the feeling of “I need to have earned it,” probably the Front Line Kit drone one. I feel like I’m entitled to wear that because I’ve earned the right to wear it. Ones that I have been gifted, those are more private gifts, you know?  And those I might put up one day when I have wall space but in terms of- I wouldn’t be able to necessarily feel like I could walk around with that even if it was gifted by a member of the unit and it’s the unit’s chevron, I don’t really feel like I could- and this is just me but I don’t feel like I would have the right to wear it. You know, it’s something that’s been gifted to me and it’s something that’s valuable to me emotionally, but it’s not something that I can necessarily wear- especially when it’s like on my forehead.

So I suppose I have a thing where I would be okay with it on a backpack, but I wouldn’t be okay with it on my forehead on a p-cap. Because I don’t know, it just feels different to me. I don’t feel like if I had a backpack that had the Velcro on it- I don’t feel like I would be claiming anything by having it on there. But I do feel like wearing it on a p-cap would be- I wouldn’t be entitled to do that.

Vic: Do you think that that difference comes from because you can only fit one patch on a cap?

Michelle: Probably, probably- because it’s clothing- I suppose it’s one reason, but also I think even if it was like- if I had a shirt with the Velcro on the shoulders like the soldiers have, even then it would feel like I was claiming membership if I was using them, like the 93^rd, you know? So that would feel wrong to me. But no one’s gonna assume that I’m claiming that if it’s on my backpack.

So I don’t know how anyone else feels about these things but this is me personally, where I feel I need to have earned the right to wear it. And I suppose that’s where it is- my backpack isn’t wearing it. So if its on my clothes then I have to have earned it. But if its on my backpack I feel that would be fine, I suppose. Or, if I was wearing something where there were multiple of them and it was clear that it was a collection rather than the singular kind of one on your shoulder or whatever it was.

Vic: Say you met someone and they’re wearing a cap and they’ve got the 93^rd patch on it, would you assume that they’re a member of the unit?

Michelle: I kind of would assume that they had like a more formal connection to the unit, yes. It is something that- I mean I know people who don’t have or who aren’t in the unit that have done that, but I will personally know that they’re not. So, I don’t make that assumption. If I was to meet a stranger in the street with a 93^rd on their hat I would assume that they have a more formal involvement with the unit.

Vic: Say they were wearing a t-shirt with imagery associated with the 93^rd on it, would you be more or less likely to assume they’re a member or associated formally with the group?

Michelle: I would be less likely to assume that that was a formal thing. Because I do think- t-shirts do not hold the same status as chevrons. Theres something almost spiritual connected to a chevron, whereas a t-shirt is a t-shirt. So, I could buy an Azov t-shirt, and I don’t think many people would assume I have any connection with Azov because of that. They would just see it as me indicating support for Azov. Now, if someone was clearly military and they were wearing an Azov t-shirt, I would assume they were Azov. But that’s because of the rest of the signalling. Not someone in a pair of jeans and an Azov or 93^rd or whatever t-shirt.

Vic: Okay. Say you met a volunteer- international volunteer, they’ve got a backpack, its covered in chevrons of various different groups. Would you make any assumptions about them?

Michelle: No, I would- well, I would assume that their volunteering had brought them in touch with those groups and I suppose I would initially give them the benefit of the doubt that they’ve received those chevrons as gifts from the people- from a person in the unit. So if they had an Azov, or 93^rd, I’d assume that whatever their volunteering work was that they had a direct connection there. Now I’m sure you can buy those, but I think I would assume initially that they had done something that connected them to those people.

Vic: What about if they were non-military, so they had a bunch of Florks, NAFO, the cliché volunteer one of the blood type one- would you have different assumptions about them?

Michelle: Yes. Yes, I think if like- that’s not to say that you can’t have a mix of units and Flork, which happens all the time with the actual soldiers themselves, but if someone was predominantly Flork and NAFO, and you know, a volunteer, I would assume that they were doing something much further behind the lines. I would assume that that was an indication of being in Ukraine, being a volunteer, and doing kitchen or camouflage net making or stuff like that. That would be what I would assume they were doing. If it was a Flork and NAFO heavy, much more civilian stuff. If it was unit patches, I would assume they were delivering aid to the front line and stuff like that. I would assume they were connecting directly with guys in those units.

Vic: Okay. So, you’d say that chevrons can be used to make general assumptions about what work someone does?

Michelle: I think it gives signals, yes. I mean whether those signals are true- you know, you can’t necessarily say. But at a superficial level of like as you said “I see two backpacks and I know nothing else but these two backpacks that pass me”, I would make assumptions about them based upon their chevrons, yes. Like I would say hardcore front line getting into much more danger, the other one committed to Ukraine, doing what they can, but much more civilian. Not denigrating the civilian guys! But there is a level of risk to life and limb that is different. Different types of volunteers do take different levels of risk

Vic: Yeah, definitely. So, going backwards a little bit- when you were designing the chevron of the kitchen, were you mindful of any of the imagery used and the connotations of it? Like some patches you can look at it and tell it’s a military unit, some you kind of- you know its someone having fun.

Michelle: So my brief, if you want to call it that, was that they wanted- the fundraising guy wanted to make the guys laugh. So, I was briefed to make it somewhat humorous. Which is why like, you’ve got a babusia- it’s actually one of the connections to Lviv- so its like the babusia riding a lion[4], toting an RPG which just, you know- its going to be humorous. And the idea was to give the guys a smile when they see their packets of soup and the chevron from the kitchen, so there was that.

But in terms of things I did keep in mind, I tried to be culturally sensitive because what I discovered very quickly was that simple things like how a babusia had the scarf around her neck tied was like very emotionally triggering for some of the ladies. I initially had it tied under her chin. Turns out, there’s a difference between how a Ukrainian- a babusia- ties her scarf, and a Russian babushka[5] ties hers. So I had to adjust the design very quickly as I was doing it the wrong way.

I did make a point of asking questions about stuff like that and “is this okay, is that okay”, things like the crazy or wild younger witch version that the ladies wanted- there was a lot of debate about how the vyshyvanka[6] was to go- because while modern vyshyvankas do genuinely have a wide variety of designs, they were very clear that they wanted a traditional pattern on the front of the vyshyvanka. So there were those things, it was mostly cultural stuff I was trying to keep in mind when I was doing it.

And other than that, there was the instruction to kind of try and give the guys a smile. So it wasn’t meant as a serious chevron as such. It was a kind of thing that you would see with your lovely honey bread and your Carpathian tea from the babusias so it’s- it was a different energy about what they were trying to achieve with their chevron.

Vic: So was it a quite personally fulfilling and education process designing it?

Michelle: Yes, yes and you realise just how tiny these signals of culture can be. They’re like- we westerners come in oblivious to things, and just how you wear your head scarf can cause a complete ruckus. So, it was like sort of learning these things and just how- especially in the context of the war, how incredibly important tiny cultural signifiers are to people. So it was very educational, and yeah. I enjoyed the whole process.

Vic: Do you see chevrons as an important cultural signifier within Ukraine?

Michelle: I think it’s Ukraine’s wartime culture. I don’t think chevrons are Ukrainian culture, but they are culture that is developing in Ukraine- an embattled Ukraine, a Ukraine that is battling for its survival has developed a culture around chevrons. So, I think it’s part of military culture that has seeped into civilian Ukrainian culture because of how interconnected civil society and civilians are in support for the guys on the front lines. So, yeah- and obviously as you go to places like the camouflage net weaving where they’ll have a board full of chevrons from all the units they’ve sent chevrons to.

So it’s like these fine lines of connection that are kind of like dispersing throughout Ukrainian culture connecting those in the cities and those on the front line. The front lines are defending the cities freedoms and the cities are providing the support and the food and the camouflage nets and fundraising, and all of these threads of connection are spreading out within Ukrainian culture. So it’s something that would not previously have been Ukrainian necessarily, but its certainly something that wartime Ukraine- it’s very much part of their culture I think.

Vic: Cool, that’s all of the questions that I have. Do you have anything that you’d like to generically say about chevrons?

Michelle: I don’t have any immediate thoughts, but they’re just so useful in fundraising and so useful in many ways. I mean the fundraising side of chevrons is huge. With things like if you think of 69^th sniffing brigade[7] (https://www.help99.co/) and how they will bring out these exclusive limited edition chevrons for people who donate like over $100, then you’ll qualify for whatever the current limited edition chevron is. So I think that it’s not just emotional connection, I think that you’ll probably find in the future that chevrons will have- especially those limited edition ones, the hard to get ones- they’re probably going to become quite valuable, and almost like- sort of like I don’t know, military paraphernalia or people who collect limited edition comic books and stuff like that. These chevrons where only small numbers were produced for short periods of time will probably become quite valuable over and above their emotional value.

Vic: Do you think that’ll count for both Ukrainian and Russian ones?  I’ve seen charity auctions for capture Russian chevrons.

Michelle: I don’t know, because I think the culture between Ukrainian and Russian chevrons is very different. I mean I don’t know enough about Russian culture- but when you look at the the western engagement and involvement from civilians, western or democratic world and how ordinary people from around the world are doing things to support Ukraine- and chevrons are also connected into that as rewards and “thank you”s and stuff like that. I don’t think that’s happening in Russia, but I could be wrong.

I think it’s something that’s quite unique to the democratic world and their support to Ukraine. I think Russian chevrons are likely to be more kind of- they’re gonna start falling into the same category as Nazi paraphernalia is. You know what I’m saying? I don’t think you’re going to have a warm glow around it. They’re gonna be sort of like “should I even own this” because this is like, part of the heart of evil. So you might have it in a museum and stuff and you will have private collectors, but I don’t think the type of people and the collecting culture around those things is probably going to be quite different. I think that people will approach them quite differently. I mean I’m not saying I don’t think people will be able to bring some money in using them, but I think that the general vibe is going to be quite different

Vic: Do you think that part of the drive for chevron culture has been driven by western connections?

Michelle: I think that because- in the news you’re always hearing about our western leaders bragging about how much they’re sending Ukraine, when in reality they’re sending the bare minimum. I think when you actually go to Ukraine and- or even if you’re just part of NAFO and you’re doing online fundraising and work there- but especially when you go into Ukraine and you realise just how much of the defence is civilian fundraised and civilian provided. Like, the ordinary people of the democratic world are doing so much to keep the wheels on the bus where our leaders- yes I mean they sent some big guns, but its not always the big guns that are holding the line; it’s the small civilian built drones, and those small civilian built drones are funded by other civilians. Whether they are Ukrainian or from around the world.

So, I think chevron culture has blossomed because the soldiers themselves understand that their survivable is so connect to ordinary people. To the $5 that’s donated by someone in California or the $5 from someone in Sydney. I think its that engagement from ordinary people, and the soldiers- they have very little that they can give in return. It’s like they have received a drone a first aid kit or whatever it is, from all of this, what they have to express their gratitude is a chevron. So that is what they give in return for all of the civilian fundraised and aggregated aid.

So, I think the chevron culture is this grassroots thing. It’s got nothing to do with the big guns and F-16s and stuff like that. That’s not chevron culture. Chevron culture is grassroots, its one individual gifting a chevron in gratitude for what another individual ordinary person has done to keep them alive. So, it’s yeah. That’s what I think about how it has grown.

Vic: Makes a lot of sense. Thank you for your time!

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[1] Бабуся, Ukrainian for grandmother

[2] A simply drawn web comic that’s become popular over the past few years, and is very commonly seen on chevrons.

[3] North Atlantic Fella Organisation, a group that’s very popular on pro-Ukrainian social media. The name NAFO is a play on NATO. Members do fundraising for Ukraine, raise awareness, and harass pro-Russians on social media until they get frustrated enough to use a slur and get banned. A “fella” is a cartoon dog modelled on a Shiba Inu dog. Many international volunteers have their own fella, or “brain damaged dog” as they’re often called. https://nafo-ofan.org/

[4] Lions are the emblem of Lviv, as Lviv sounds very similar to the Ukrainian word for lion- лев.

[5] Russian word for grandmother

[6] The vyshyvanka (вишиванка) is a traditional Ukrainian shirt with an embroidered pattern on the front

[7] A NAFO “brigade” which fundraises for the Ukrainian military