Feb 26, 2022,07:21pm EST|
Topline
Ordinary Ukrainian civilians have stepped up to fight Russian troops threatening Kyiv as the country’s capital has turned into a battleground, with gunfire and explosions heard across the city on successive nights.
Newly married couple Yarina Arieva and Svyatoslav Fursinb, left, pose for photo after they joined … [+] the ranks of the city territorial defense battalion the day after they got married in Kyiv on Friday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Key Facts
While more than 150,000 Ukrainians have fled the country seeking shelter in neighboring countries since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began three days ago, many who have stayed behind are taking up arms to stop Russia’s invasion.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged civilian volunteers to step in to support the military, and Ukrainian officials said Friday they had distributed 18,000 guns to volunteers and handed out instructions on making Molotov cocktails.
Volunteers with little or no military experience queued to receive assault rifles from the government, and they were given instructions on how to halt Russian troops, including opening fire at tires on military vehicles and setting fire on a forest if they spotted Russian vehicles, the New York Times reported.
The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine tweeted instructions Saturday on how to make Molotov cocktails.
A volunteer stands guard behind a pile of tires at a checkpoint in Kyiv on Saturday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Volunteers work to make molotov cocktails in the basement of a bomb shelter on Saturday in Kyiv.
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Ukrainian volunteers, one holding an AK-47 rifle, protect the main road to Kyiv.
AFP via Getty Images
Ukrainian soldiers outside a Kyiv military facility as two cars burn Saturday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A couple embraces on Maidan Square in Kiev on Saturday after a night of violence in the city in … [+] which gunfire and explosions could be heard at the central spot in the city.
Europa Press via Getty Images
A man with a gun looks out of a shelter during shelling in Kyiv on Saturday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A man with a dog passes by debris from a building hit by a missile strike on Saturday in Kyiv.
Getty Images
Members of the territorial defense battalion set up a machine gun in Kyiv.
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Civilian volunteers check their guns at a territorial defense registration office on Saturday in … [+] Kyiv.
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A stuffed animal and a notebook in debris near an apartment in Kyiv that was hit by a missile on … [+] Saturday.
Getty Images
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