Ukrainian citizens take up arms to defend nation from Russian invasion

In the battle for Kyiv, Russian troops are facing not only Ukrainian armed forces but also thousands of civilians from all walks of life.

Civilian volunteers gather at a Territorial Defence unit registration office in Kyiv, Ukraine. Picture: Getty Images

In the battle for Kyiv, Russian troops are facing not only Ukrainian armed forces but also thousands of civilians, including a pizzeria owner and a political consultant.

Authorities say they have distributed 18,000 rifles in the capital to volunteers willing to fight.

Websites and social media channels published instructions on how to make petrol bombs.

Groups are spontaneously co-ordinating storage and distribution points for food, clothes and fuel. The battle is even drawing home fighters from abroad.

“I am fulfilling my duty as a Ukrainian citizen, a father and a son,” said Kostyantyn Batozsky, a 41-year-old political consultant who said he was brandishing a weapon for the first time.

Russian troops are closing in on Kyiv from the north and west, and there are gunbattles within the city.

Ukrainian officials said dozens of saboteurs who had infiltrated Kyiv had been killed.

The groundswell of ordinary people taking up arms against Russia’s overwhelming military power undercuts the narrative ­Russian President Vladimir Putin used to justify his invasion – that the country is led not by true Ukrainians but, as he said on television Friday, by a “gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis who settled in Kyiv and took the entire Ukrainian people hostage”.

Even as tens of thousands of Ukrainians fled their country, ­others returned.

At a Polish border post near the southeastern city of Przemysl, a steady stream of Ukrainians who had been living in Poland on Saturday crossed over on foot and in cars, answering calls on social media groups to join the fight.

“Every truck company in ­Europe has Ukrainian drivers, and we are organising ourselves to go,” said Vitalis, a 38-year-old truck driver, waiting to drive across the border.

The car behind him, and another in front, were also carrying men to the front.

About one million Ukrainians live in Poland, a country that is fervently supporting its eastern neighbour’s struggle.

Arms and ammunition flow across Poland’s EU-flagged border, passing Ukrainian men flagging down cars for a ride.

“On social media, this is what people are talking about,” said Pasha, a young Ukrainian hitchhiking a ride across another nearby border crossing.

“I’m going to fight for my family, my girlfriend and all of Ukraine.”

Ukrainians’ spirits have been lifted in recent days by heroic tales of resistance, often in the face of massive Russian firepower.

Military officials said an army engineer had blown himself up along with a road bridge to halt a Russian tank column in southern Ukraine.

Border guards on Serpent Island in the Black Sea responded negatively to a demand to surrender by a Russian warship, saying in a radio message shared online by officials: “Go f. k yourself!” They were wiped out by the Russians and would be posthumously recognised as Heroes of Ukraine, the state’s highest honour.

Ukraine’s government earlier this year established territorial battalions of volunteer fighters who trained for just this kind of scenario. Now, the government is giving out rifles and ammunition to anyone willing to fight. Lines formed at distribution points, and authorities said they would have to bring in more weapons.

Mr Batozsky said he had gone to pick up a rifle on Friday after hearing Kyiv’s mayor, former boxing heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, appeal for all-out ­defence of the city.

“We are keyboard warriors,” he said, “but with guns now.”

The Wall Street Journal