Kyiv, Feb 3: Amid looming threat of a Russian invasion, civilians in Ukraine are learning with wooden cutout of AK-47 to fight. According to BBC, pensioners have joined weekend drills in woodland outside Kyiv where concrete factory ruins covered in graffiti stand-in for a battlefield. Though they are too old to be allowed to sign formal contracts but military trainers allow them to practise. “I don’t think the Russians will invade now thanks to our Western allies giving us weapons. I don’t believe they’ll reach Kyiv but we have to be ready for that,” said 61-year-old Vasyl Nazarov while training with his wooden cutout gun.
Another trainee, Serhiy Kalinin said, “I think the West’s threat of terrible sanctions will stop Putin but the enemy is at our border. So everyone should be prepared.” According to BBC, city schools have also been practising bomb scare or air raid drills and the social media is full of official guides to preparing an emergency “grab bag” for evacuation and people have begun plotting their escape route which mostly involves driving west as fast as they can. On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron in a telephonic conversation discussed Russia’s military activity near its border with Ukraine. “The two leaders affirmed their support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and reviewed our ongoing coordination on both diplomacy and preparations to impose swift and severe economic costs on Russia should it further invade Ukraine,” the White House said in a statement.
Both leaders also agreed to work along with NATO and EU partners on a coordinated approach to managing the situation. Last month, the US sent its first shipment including “close to 200,000 pounds of lethal aid, including ammunition for the front line defenders of Ukraine”, US Embassy in Kyiv tweeted.
