Irish Daily Mail

The Olympic star shooter with sights on Moscow’s troops

- By Inderdeep Bains

SHE’S a champion shooter with an Olympic gold to her name. But now Ukrainian sports star Kristina Dmitrenko is training for a very different type of target practice after joining the war effort against Russia.

And the 22-year-old seems to feel no fear of invading troops, warning Vladimir Putin’s forces: ‘I shoot well.’

Ms Dmitrenko won gold in the biathlon at the 2016 Youth Olympic Games – a sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting.

The biathlete, from the northern city of Chernihiv, had been preparing for an internatio­nal competitio­n in Italy when war broke out in Ukraine this year.

Now she is serving with the Ukrainian National Guard to protect her homeland.

‘I never thought in my life it would be like this. No one can imagine this,’ she said.

‘I shoot well, so the invaders won’t have a chance. Even if I temporaril­y replace my biathlon rifle with a machine gun, whatever weapon is in my hands, I will stand to the end. Victory will surely be ours.’

Before the start of the war, Ms Dmitrenko had travelled to a training camp in the Carpathian Mountains with the junior national team.

But, on February 24, she said she woke up to a message from a friend saying that her homeland had been invaded.

‘Friends from Chernihiv and Kyiv sent pictures of the horror they had to endure,’ Ms Dmitrenko said. ‘But I have no fear of the enemy.’

 ?? ?? Champion: The biathlete competing in 2017
On the frontline: Kristina Dmitrenko, 22, is now serving with the Ukrainian National Guard
Champion: The biathlete competing in 2017 On the frontline: Kristina Dmitrenko, 22, is now serving with the Ukrainian National Guard

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