Members of the NGO Saunas for Ukraine visited the sauna complex built for the Azov Battalion.

On a beautiful day in July, members of the NGO Saunas for Ukraine visited the third sauna complex we built, which is used by the renowned Azov Battalion.

We met with representatives of the battalion in the Kharkiv region, where, after adventures on dusty roads through sunflower and watermelon fields—encounters that included local scrap metal scavengers and bottomless potholes—we finally reached the well-hidden sauna complex in the forest. It stood proudly next to destroyed enemy equipment, in a place where, just a few years ago, the dirty boots of the occupier had marched.

Right there by the sauna, while tapping with a toe at a grease-covered mess tin lid that had flown off an exploded Soviet tank, we discussed the finer points of washing in the woods. We also jotted down in our notebook the lessons passed on to us by Ukraine’s finest sons as they fought the enemy and competed for the best spots in the sauna.

War waits for no one, and time flew by—before we knew it, we were in a fancy lemonade café in Izium, where we celebrated our reunion with a cold drink amidst the sounds of air raid sirens. We wished the fighters strength, shook hands with the battalion commander, and, after loading our trunk with peaches, apricots, and a huge watermelon, we set off home in good spirits.

But one picture says more than a thousand words, and ten pictures more than a million: