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By Florent Venez
Ruslan Mokretsky stood amidst the ruins of eastern Ukraine, combat knife in hand, chopping onions without shedding a tear. Although working on the frontline may seem menial, it is not easy.
The 32-year-old, with a mustache and military uniform, instructed his comrade to take a proper photo of him with his phone. The angle was important. Mokretsky, one of Ukraine’s wartime military influencers to boost morale, has 131,600 followers on TikTok. “Take a close-up of my fingers,” he told his friend, the photographer for the day. “Pull the lens down.”
Ukrainian soldier and internet celebrity Ruslan Mokretsky shows ingredients for cooking spaghetti with a bullet next to it in the Donetsk region
The photo shows his shrapnel-stained hands as he carefully peels an onion. Mokretzky’s social media profile sums up his life as a part-time celebrity chef and soldier in one sentence: “Chef from the hell of war.” The day I met him, he revisited an Italian classic, carbonara.
Just 24 hours ago, he was a drone pilot defending the eastern city that Russia has been trying to capture for months in the so-called “Toretsk Hell.” Mokretsky has been on the front lines since the start of the war in 2022, and under constant fire, he needed a way to escape.
Ukrainian soldier and influencer Ruslan Mokrytskyi cooks pasta in the Donetsk region while his comrades record a TikTok video for him
“After the mission, I had so many scary and stressful images in my mind,” he said. “I needed to refresh myself.” Despite the bombs, he tried to forget the fear by watching movies, listening to music, reading and taking walks. But to no avail.
“I even told myself at one point that it would be cool to film myself making French fries,” the soldier said. The idea succeeded beyond his expectations: His French fry video has garnered 3 million views.
Inspired, Mokrecki invited friends from the battalion, who would call their wives for recipe ideas. Then he realized he was not only helping his own mental health, but also his fellow soldiers. “Everyone was joking,” he said. “It wasn’t just me rebuilding myself mentally, it was everyone around me rebuilding.”
His video conference offered “an hour or two” of relaxed atmosphere — an unusual feeling on the Donbass front, where fighting has raged for two and a half years since Moscow’s invasion.
“You can go make it”
His campmate Ivan fiddled with his camera, looking happy to be free from the war. Usually, Ivan’s nights are restless. “When I’m shooting Ruslan, I don’t think about the war,” the 25-year-old said, adding that while helping with the video, he was given an extra reward – a hearty dinner.
Ukrainian soldier and internet celebrity Ruslan Mokrytskyi
On Mokrecki’s TikTok page, he posts content that sometimes ranges from cooking recipes to raw images showing the realities of war. In addition to having “crucial” psychological benefits, running a social media page means soldiers stay connected to civilian life. It also allows civilians – and the soldiers’ families – to get a glimpse into what life is like for soldiers in the east. “If you don’t connect with your family, you can go crazy,” Mokrecki said.
He worked hard to make the content both entertaining and relevant to the war, such as converting rifle bullets into pepper shakers and using products found in the destroyed cities he passed through.
“We are all ordinary people”
Now that Mokrecki’s face is recognizable, some businesses have taken an interest. “I was approached by an energy drink company,” he said, wanting to hire him as a brand ambassador. “They sent me drinks and helped me when I was injured,” he added, with scars still on his hands.
Initially, he was supported by generous donations from civilians, but after two and a half years of war, those donations have dried up. But he knows his videos are helping to keep Ukrainians’ spirits up — and maybe even helping to undermine enemy stereotypes.
“The Russians watch my videos, too,” he said, smiling. “They see that we are ordinary people who are defending our country, not fascists or I don’t know what else,” he said, referring to Moscow’s depiction of Ukraine and its stated goal of “de-Nazifying” it.
This partly inspired him to run the Cooking Wars channel, despite the heavy duties of a soldier. When a friend was killed, it “took him four days to recover,” but he then went back to making videos.
Mokretzky was busy cooking again, the aroma of hot Parmesan wafting through the ruins, and he poured spaghetti onto his companions’ plastic plates, bringing smiles to their faces.
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