Russia-Ukraine war: Defenders armed with courage and truth

In the face of ruthless Russian invaders, there is one word galvanising members of Ukraine’s Territorial Defence Force.

Surrounded by his 100 men and women of the Territorial Defence Force, company commander Volodymyr Marusiak tells them there is only one word they are to remember: Truth.

“Truth is on our side, truth is what we have for your families, for your nation,” the part-time 33-year-old leader says with a confidence that belies his age.

Ironically, he was a founder and partner in a legal firm in normal times and knows the value of the word but now on the frontline of war with Russia, the proud Ukrainian uses it in a different context.

It is a word you hear a lot among the regular army, territorial guard, civil volunteers and other agencies, such as police, now operating in combat.

Most did not want this war but now that it is here, truth they say is on their side.

At border check posts on roads emanating like a spider web from the capital Kyiv, troops are preparing steel antitank “hedgehog” spikes.

Ukraine Territorial Defence Force company commander Volodymyr Marusiak says truth is on his nation's side. Picture: Viktor Moskaliuk

Members of the public are given weapons training at the Solonka administration building in Lviv, Ukraine. Picture: Getty Images

Russian troops have all but encircled the capital but in surrounding road routes, it is hoped hedgehogs will help slow enemy movement further and allow for guerrilla-style assaults.

“When the tanks come here we have to go to the tanks and deal with them,” the father of seven-year-old twins said.

Commander Marusiak, armed with an old model Kalashnikov AK-74, said his squad was ready.

“The mood is ‘fight mode’, people may have a romantic view of what war is but you tactically educate them, give them the right tools and they better understand what is involved with the fight.”

For security reasons, his location cannot be revealed nor the identity of his 97 men and three women but he says he has responsibility for 140,000 locals in the broader district, as well as a hospital.

His wife, Yulia, is worried and scared for him but he tells her he is doing this duty for his family as much as his region.

Further along the road, Andreii, who asks we use just his first name, is a commander of his district.

The former full time Special Forces soldier, turned territorial reservist, said his men and women were well prepared.

In the surrounding forest, trenches had been dug, sandbagged bunkers built and tank traps set.

“I was a soldier in 2014 in the east and so I know the price of life,” he said of his prior deployment in Donetsk when Russian-backed forces invaded the region.

Standing next to him is his son, fresh out of high school

“In another life I was a car mechanic now I am here. Truth is with us, God is with us and this is our country,” Andreii said.

The TDF has added another 25 regional light infantry brigades with 150 battalions with an estimated mobilised force of 130,000 personnel, some of whom are already in the thick of conflict.

Originally published as Russia-Ukraine war: Defenders armed with courage and truth