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'Makeshift blockades, petrol bombs': How Ukrainians are defending their country from Russia invasion
On Saturday, the Ukrainian defence ministry asked its residents to start making Molotov cocktails to neutralise the occupier. They also shared a detailed 'How To' guide to make the petrol bombs.
Ukraine is in the middle of the worst European security crisis in decades after Russia launched a full-blown military offensive earlier this week. The crisis, which began on Thursday after weeks of military build-up, has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people while upending the lives of thousands of others as they took shelter in car parking, subways. While the Ukrainian military is giving a fierce fight against the Russians, local residents are also answering the call to defend their nation.
On Saturday, the Ukrainian defence ministry asked its residents to start making Molotov cocktails to neutralise the occupier. They also shared a detailed 'How To' guide to make the petrol bombs. Some of the patriotic locals are also trying to weave their own narrative by joining the military. Among them is a 36-year-old Ukrainian tennis star Sergiy Stakhovsky. "Of course, I would fight, it's the only reason I'm trying to get back," Sky News quoted Stakhovsky as saying. The tennis player who is known for defeating Roger Federer on Wimbledon's Centre Court in 2013, signed up for the reserves last week.
He doesn't have prior military experience. "I have experience with a gun privately," Stakhovsky added.
Makeshift roadblocks have also been erected by locals. In some areas, people parked their tractors, a delivery truck at strategic angles to stop the Russian army for as long as they can, as per visuals shared by local media.
According to a report by BBC, workers in a sewing factory who normally stitch uniforms are also contributing by making sandbags.
A Ukrainian road maintenance company also said that it was removing all road signs to hinder invading Russian forces. "The enemy has poor communications, they cannot navigate the terrain," the company Ukravtodor said in a Facebook update late on Friday. "Let us help them get straight to hell."
According to the Pentagon's estimates, roughly half of the more than 150,000-strong invasion force built up by Moscow on Ukraine's borders in recent months is now inside the country. It was unclear how much territory Russian forces had seized or to what extent their advance had been stalled.
Meanwhile, Russia has claimed that its assault on Ukraine from the north, east and south is aimed only at military targets, however, bridges, schools and residential neighbourhoods have been hit.
Earlier, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to residents to support their country. "We will give weapons to anyone who wants to defend the country. Be ready to support Ukraine in the squares of our cities...We will give weapons to anyone who wants to defend the country. Be ready to support Ukraine in the squares of our cities," he wrote on the micro-blogging site.
The Ukrainian health ministry on Saturday said at least 198 Ukrainians, including three children, have been killed in Russia's invasion so far.
(With agency inputs)
