CIVILIAN WARRIORS PREPARED TO FIGHT TO THE DEATH
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A THOUSAND defiant Ukrainian civilians have joined a defence force to “fight to the death” against Russia.
The makeshift Territorialstyle army is capital Kyiv’s last bastion against Moscow’s invasion force – and leaders say it will battle Vladimir Putin’s troops to the last man and woman standing.
Yesterday I watched the latest determined raw recruits being put through their paces by instructors.
Nicknamed “corporate warriors’ these middle-class fighters include Kyiv’s elite citizens – from lawyers, and IT specialists to teachers and company directors.
One firm boss told us: “Lots of us have good jobs but many people here cannot afford the equipment to join the Territorial Defence Force, a gun and the clothes of a soldier. Supply logistics is slow but everybody will have the equipment needed if the time comes.”
In -6C temperatures in a ruined factory outside Ukraine’s capital Kyiv yesterday, lawyer and mumof-two Natalia, 43, held a real gun for the first time.
Asked if she would make the ultimate sacrifice to take lives, she replied: “It is a huge risk for me but I will do whatever it takes to protect my family. Yes, of course I am ready to kill the enemy. When I studied to be a lawyer I never dreamed I would hold a gun.
“I came here on my own, but I’ve met a couple of other lawyers. I want to play my part in defending my family.”
For now she’s borrowing an AK-47 assault rifle to practise. She usually trains with a wooden gun.
Soon Natalia could be fighting house to house against Russians.
She adds: “It is natural to want to defend your homeland but I cannot understand the motivation of those who would want to invade someone else’s country.”
Her businessman husband has military experience but she declined to go into details, as she wants to protect him and their two daughters, aged 11 and 17. The civil fighters, if needed, will battle alongside 405,000 regular Ukraine troops – with 60,000 now deployed – and 250,000 reservists.
So far more than 1,000 “corporate warriors” have signed up, many of them already kitted out with weapons and uniforms.
It takes two months to train recruits and many are being put through their paces on their first day by regular soldiers and veterans now in the reserves.
Those who have no weapon yet get a wooden replica but they look deadly serious about fighting.
They arrive, having registered for service somewhere in Kyiv, in a mixture of army fatigues, tracksuits and boots or trainers.
It is impossible not to be moved
I am ready to kill the enemy. I will do what it takes to protect my family
WHO HAS TO BORROW AN AK-47 TO PRACTISE
by their bravery. They face possible attack from 126,000 Russian troops gathered on Ukraine’s eastern and coastal flank – plus as many as 80,000 in Belarus to the north.
Vasaly Nazarov, a grandfather, is a 61-year-old IT administrator.
He said of his decision to sign up: “Our country is in danger and I will
do whatever I can to protect it from our enemy.
“We need to stop Putin here. I want to protect my family, my granddaughter, who is just one years old, we have to do what we can.” They will need every
MUM NATALIA
ounce of their courage.
Top US General Mark Milley has said a Russian invasion of Ukraine would be “horrific” given the number of troops they face.
The chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said: “If that was unleashed on Ukraine, it would result in a significant amount of casualties.”