Andriy Kaspshyshak
A soldier of the 103rd Territorial Defense Brigade, writer, financier, and publisher.
He is the author of the short story “The Mountain” in the collection Voices of Defenders vol.1, which describes the liberation of the Kharkiv region, the devastated villages, and the people who climbed hills to watch for their defenders.
I am very lucky in life because I am always surrounded by bright and wonderful people — active, sincere, and honest. And I feel that my mission is to tell stories about the people around me, because they are far too modest.
Military path
Andriy is 28 years old. He was born and lives in Lviv.
From February 24, 2022, to April 2023, he served as a soldier in the separate reconnaissance company of the 103rd Territorial Defense Brigade. He participated in the battles of Bilohorivka, the counteroffensive on Lyman and Kreminna, fought on the Svatove direction, and operated across the entire area from Izium to Kupiansk.
For his service, he was awarded the “Faith and Oath” distinction and the commemorative badge “Honor and Fatherland.”
Before the war, Andriy studied at Lviv Polytechnic and pursued postgraduate studies at the M. Dolishniy Institute of Regional Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, where he researched human behavioral patterns during financial crises.
He worked as a financial auditor at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), collaborating with colleagues from Japan, Colombia, France, Poland, and the UAE.
He was actively involved in public work with the Ukrainian youth organization “Spadshchyna.” He loved the mountains and was preparing for his wedding with his fiancée.
From his military experiences, Andriy recalls both tragic and funny moments. He shares one story with a smile:
During a shelling, we all took cover in a ditch by the road. Later, in the dugout, we realized — Harbuzik was missing. We went back to look for him and found him in the same ditch — stuck. He had pressed himself so tightly between a pipe and the ground from the shelling that he couldn’t get out on his own. He said, “At first, I didn’t call for help, thinking I could crawl out myself. But then when I imagined it starting again, I just stayed there.”
Civilian life
Creative and Publishing Work
After returning from the war, Andriy wrote and published his debut book *The Legend of the Free*, as well as several short stories in collections. He is currently working on a new autofiction novel.
Together with his wife, he founded the publishing house *Story Workshop “Mriyelov”*, which is preparing to release five books by different authors. Their home is shared with a cat named Winston.
He also leads the Office for Veterans and Their Families at UCU, actively speaking at conferences and presentations about the war, his book, and the comrades who did not return.
How He Started Writing
Even in elementary school, when money, social status, and a prestigious job didn’t matter, I dreamed of becoming a writer. I had a stack of notebooks, which I filled from the first to the last page with various fictional stories. During the war, in the moments between explosions, when I remembered those notebooks and childhood dreams, I decided that if I survived, I would write.
Favorite Books, Music, and Movies
I adore magical stories — Tolkien, Rowling, Abercrombie, and others. I enjoy films and books that move you and don’t leave you indifferent. I love classical music.
In *The Lord of the Rings*, there is a moment when Gandalf says to Frodo: “We do not get to choose the time in which we live, but we can decide how to live in the time that has chosen us.”
I believe in the incredible ability of Ukrainians to turn horizontal connections into an absolute strength. So it seems to me that what will help us stay afloat in this great storm is our unity and the ability to quickly “agree and get things done.”