Ukrainian historian Yuriy Korchemniy has never fired an assault rifle in his life, but he joined scores of others and picked up a Kalashnikov when boxes of them were dumped from trucks and handed out to Ukraine’s new volunteer defense units on day two of Russia’s invasion.
“They gave out the rifles, loaded them for us and here we are,” the 35-year-old said.
The Kyiv bridge underpass he was guarding with a handful of other men — some in their 50s — leads to Western-backed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s administrative complex.
Photo: AFP
The reverse side of the road runs through a working-class district of Soviet-style tower blocks that witnessed a deadly shootout with a small group of Russian forces only a few hours earlier.
An Agence France-Presse team saw a middle-aged civilian who was killed in the clash carried away by ambulance workers.
One witness said the civilian was cut down by bullets fired by the Russians from a speeding armored vehicle.
Korchemniy seemed slightly uncertain about his role in defending the Ukrainian capital against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invading forces.
“I only know how to shoot single rounds, so my plan is to click this here and switch off the automatic mode,” he said, cautiously patting the shiny weapon.
A surreal sense of fighting ghosts has descended on this once-bustling city of 3 million people.
Sirens wail and thudding booms crash across swathes of Kyiv at random hours.
The deserted streets are distinguished by pockets of nervous-looking soldiers, and oddly relaxed volunteers shuffling from foot to foot and smoking.
Pedestrians who venture out look almost oblivious to the danger. Some are glued to their smartphone screens and one couple was spotted jogging with their puppy.
However, the Russians — their advance toward the city confirmed by the distant blasts and empty bullet casings scattered on intersections — are nowhere to be seen.
A masked volunteer unit commander who goes by the nom de guerre “Bob” said he had no idea where the Russians go after attacking.
“I don’t know,” the commander said. “I have one man injured. This street was hit with bullets — and not the ordinary bullets like in my machine gun. We have smaller bullets. The Russians use much bigger bullets.”
Ukraine’s once-dilapidated armed forces have been beefed up by years of steady Western assistance and an urgent flurry of arms shipments aimed at deterring Putin.
However, they remain an overstretched and outgunned force.
Government troops had focused for eight years on fighting Russian-backed insurgents on a frozen frontline in the east — then Putin invaded from three directions at once.
This forced Ukraine to scramble to send reinforcements to the northern frontier by Belarus and the southern one by Kremlin-annexed Crimea.
The military then urged anyone between the age of 18 and 60 to pick up a gun and get ready to fight.
Paragliding instructor Roman Bondertsev said he heeded the call “because it’s better than being at home doing nothing. This way I am less afraid.”
“And if I get shot, there will be two people ready to come take my weapon and take my place,” the 47-year-old said.
The extreme sports coach was better able to contain his anger at the Russian invasion than mechanic Ruslan Bitsman. “I’ve never served,” Bitsman said. “But it’s my country — my country, you understand. You ask what I think about Putin? Only unprintable things.”
PHISHING: The con might appear convincing, as the scam e-mails can coincide with genuine messages from Apple saying you have run out of storage For a while you have been getting messages from Apple saying “your iCloud storage is full.” They say you have exceeded your storage plan, so documents are no longer being backed up, and photos you take are not being uploaded. You have been resisting Apple’s efforts to get you to pay a minimum of ￡0.99 (US$1.33) a month for more storage, but it seems that you cannot keep putting off the inevitable: You have received an e-mail which says your iCloud account has been blocked, and your photos and videos would be deleted very soon. To keep them you need
The Israeli military has demolished entire villages as part of its invasion of south Lebanon, rigging homes with explosives and razing them to the ground in massive remote detonations. The Guardian reviewed three videos posted by the Israeli military and on social media, which showed Israel carrying out mass detonations in the villages of Taybeh, Naqoura and Deir Seryan along the Israel-Lebanon border. Lebanese media has reported more mass detonations in other border villages, but satellite imagery was not readily available to verify these claims. The demolitions came after Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz called for the destruction of
A US YouTuber who caused outrage for filming himself kissing a statue commemorating Korean wartime sex slaves has been sentenced to six months in prison, a court in Seoul said yesterday. Johnny Somali, 25, gained notoriety several years ago for recording himself doing a series of provocative stunts in South Korea and Japan, and streaming them on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch. South Korean authorities indicted Somali — whose real name is Ramsey Khalid Ismael — in 2024 on public order violations and obstruction of business, and banned him from leaving the country. “The court has sentenced him to six months in
The death toll from a shooting in western Afghanistan rose to 11 on Saturday, after gunmen targeted civilians at a picnic spot in Herat, the provincial authority said. Bullet marks were visible on a wall of the Sayed Mohammad Agha Shia shrine, while bloodstains marked a blanket abandoned at the scene. “Eleven people have been recorded dead and eight others wounded from Friday’s incident, with the condition of two of the wounded reported as critical,” Herat’s information office said in a statement. The update raises a toll of seven killed provided on Friday by the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs
RSS