with residents of Odessa undergoing accelerated training in the handling of weapons

A group of residents undergo crash training to learn how to handle weapons in an undisclosed area of ​​the Ukrainian city of Odessa which is preparing for an attack by the Russian army. The great Black Sea port is one of the main war aims of Vladimir Putin who launched the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 at dawn.

Alexandra, 23, was still a store manager a few weeks ago. She volunteered, like all the people who train with her, men and women of all ages, sometimes even just out of adolescence.

“We came to learn how to defend ourselves”

Marina is very religious and she would never have imagined having to use a weapon one day. “The Bible tells us not to kill, but the enemies have invaded us. And to prevent our men and our children from being killed, from the bombing of our maternities and our hospitals, we must defend ourselves. We have no other choice”she explains to the magazine “1:15 p.m. on Saturday” (replay).

For now, it’s still training, but it already seems very real for the young woman. Like many other Ukrainians, Marina is ready to fight to defend her country: “We came to learn how to use weapons and to learn how to defend ourselves. If a soldier is injured with a weapon next to them, we have to know what to do with the weapon in question. If we are the ones who can help, so that’s our role. That’s how it is.”

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