Since last February, on February 24, 2022, Russia has not stopped invading Ukraine. Reporting from the Gulf Today page, at least 351 civilians were killed and 707 others were injured. The number of victims who fell in a short time was estimated due to unpreparedness, limited weapons, and the number of soldiers who were not balanced compared to the Russian army.
Seeing the increasingly precarious situation, Ukrainian civilians also moved to defend the country. Not only men, Ukrainian women do everything they can to help maintain the sovereignty of their country.
Curious how the Ukrainian women's actions against Russia? Check out the struggles of the following tough women!
79-year-old woman takes up arms
Patriotism knows no age, that's roughly the spirit of Valentyna Konstantynovska who has lived in Ukraine for 79 years. Old age does not necessarily make him stand still watching his country ravaged. Although he realized that he was too old to join the national military, he was eager to learn how to use the AK-47 rifle.
Reporting from the Wolipop page, Valentyna attended training for civilians organized by the Ukrainian army in Mariupol. This training was attended by men and women of various ages. The hope is that these civilians can fight back when Russian troops enter their territory and threaten the safety of their lives. Even though she only practiced as a precaution, Valentyna's spirit to be on guard against Russia earned praise from netizens from various countries.
Miss Grand Ukraine 2015 Anastasiia Lenna Officially Joins the Ukrainian Military
Although her life has been dedicated as a beauty queen, Anastasiia Lenna says she is ready to take up arms against Russia. Long before the conflict, Anastasiia had made the nation proud by representing her country at the Miss Grand International 2015. Now with the Russian military aggression, Anastasiia wants to go directly to the battlefield.
Last month (22/2), Anastasiia uploaded her photo taking up arms which confirmed her involvement in the Ukrainian military. Through her Instagram account, Anastasiia often shares her moments while training at the military post. In one of his uploads on the @anastasiia.lenna account, he emphasized that Ukraine has sovereignty and anyone who tries to harass it must pay with their lives.
Anastasiia also often uses her social media as a platform for the #standforukraine campaign, raising donations for victims in Ukraine, as well as urging global organizations to immediately send military aid to Ukraine.
Dozens of Dnipro Women Assemble Molotov cocktails
An Eastern European correspondent journalist, Sarah Rainsford, reported her own testimony of how dozens of women in Dnpiro tried to survive while assembling Molotov cocktails just in case.
Arina, an English teacher, never thought she would spend her weekends struggling with polystyrene dust. His plan to hold dance classes and parties after work, in fact, had to fill bottles with Molotov cocktails with other Dnipro residents.
Meanwhile, a cook who helped make Molotov cocktails, Elena, said that she left her children with their grandparents.
"Sitting at home doing nothing would be scarier," he said.
While there was no other choice, Elena said that defending and being on guard was the best option at this time.
Ukrainian Tennis Athletes Help Ukraine Humanitarian Fund to Boycott Russian and Belarusian Symbols at Tournaments
The Ukrainian national tennis athlete, Elina Svitolina, also devotes all her energy to defending the country. Elina could not take up arms against Russia. Reporting from the Mirror.uk page, Elina is determined to donate every prize money from winning the world tournament to the affected Ukrainian community.
He also intensively raises international donations to establish the Elina Svitolina Foundation. It didn't stop there, Elina even openly refused to fight athletes on behalf of Russia and Belarus in the tournament held in Monterrey.
"We, the Ukrainian players, appeal to the ATP, WTA and ITF to follow the IOC recommendation to accept representatives from Russia and Belarus only as neutral athletes, without showing the symbols, colors, flags or national anthems," he explained, quoted from his Instagram post in early March. then. Elina emphasized that she would only play against athletes from the two countries if her request was met.
Those are the rows of Ukrainian women's struggles in defending the country. Until now, the rejection of the Russian invasion is still voiced in various countries. The resistance of the Ukrainian army and civilians continues, while hoping that there will be no more casualties.