Narrative article homework

News Item: The occupation of the Crimean peninsula by Russian forces

Title: «ВІРНИЙ ЗАВЖДИ»

Leonid opened his eyes. He was lying in his bed wearing nothing but socks and his watch. It was still pretty dark outside even though the sun started to rise over the Black Sea in the East. His watch said 4 am on the 24th of March, 2014. Leonid decided that it was time to get up. As he sat up he realized two things. First, seeing as how his head was spinning violently, he had way too much vodka last night and that Sophia, his girlfriend that he used to sneak into the barracks through a small hole in the western fence, had forgotten her underwear on the floor...again.

After some serious thinking about whether to stand up and get some coffee or to spend the next two hours bent over the toilet, he chose to get some fresh air into the room. He opened the small window and looked downhill at the town he had sworn to protect, his hometown, Feodosia.

He was a soldier, but no mere conscript. He was Leonid Maksymovych Fedorenko, a Lieutenant of the Ukrainian Marine Corps, trained and educated at the prestigious Nakhimov Naval Academy in Sevastopol, the best of the best in Crimea and possibly all of Eastern Europe.

An impatient knock on the door distracted him from the outside scenery and his thoughts of self-aggrandizement. “Enter”, he said in a military fashion. The door opened and his best friend, Victor stormed into the room. “The Russians, the Russians are coming!” he shouted struggling to breath. “Where have you been the last days?” Leonid asked calmly. “Those pro-Russian traitors have been right outside the base for more than a week, protesting, throwing stones, sometimes shooting.” Finally, being able to talk normally again Viktor clarified “No, not the mob. I’m talking about the Russians, Spetsnaz have infiltrated the city, formed a militia and are storming the base! Word is that Lieutenant Colonel Deliatytskyi and Major Ilonkiv have already been captured by enemy forces.” This was really bad news and the suddenly completely awake Leonid tried to come up with a plan to deal with this situation.