Thousands of Ukrainians have vowed to take up arms and do what they can to defend their country.
Kyiv:
Ihor Tkachenko, a computer engineer from Kyiv, cannot enroll in the civil defense forces that have sprung up across Ukraine to help fend off the Russian invasion.
With a severe limp, he was unable to meet the physical requirements, but that didn’t stop him from staying in the capital along with many others. Tens of thousands of people have also fled to the relative safety of the west.
“My wife and daughter are safe and in a village in the Carpathians and I want to stay,” the 43-year-old told Reuters on Wednesday, referring to the mountains in the far west of the country.
“If they (the Russians) come into the city, I can always throw a Molotov cocktail from my balcony,” he added, standing among the debris scattered on the ground near Kyiv’s main TV tower, which had been suffered a deadly Russian attack the day before.
“I have a dog. It is a fearless beast, and we shall die together.”
Wearing a blue tracksuit, Tkachenko surveyed the wreckage around him. Near the tower, a gym was destroyed by the force of the explosion and the exercise equipment is still burning.
“This is not a military target, this is created to intimidate us,” he added, carefully negotiating over broken bricks and pieces of wood and metal.
Led by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who appealed to his people to repel the invading forces and who remained in Kyiv to rally support, thousands of Ukrainians have vowed to take up arms and act. what they can to protect their country.
Russian forces have bombed cities including Kyiv and Kharkiv and fought to capture urban centres, but local resistance has been strong and some military experts say Moscow has by surprise.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said his military had conducted a “special military operation” in neighboring Ukraine to eliminate the security threat.
Outside one of the giant apartment complexes built on the banks of the Dnipro River in Kyiv, Inna, a housewife, looks tired as she goes to the local supermarket to buy food.
She said she barely slept, interrupted by artillery fire northwest of the city.
“I’m tired of constantly crying, worrying and… thinking what the hell they’re doing in my country,” she said.
“Honestly, I’m on the cusp of taking up arms and going to the front lines. I’ll do whatever it takes to help.”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and was automatically generated from the feed provided.)
