https://www.npr.org/2022/01/19/1073792421/ukraine-russia-attack-military

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Ukrainian volunteers train to protect cities if Russia attacks 
Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces were set up to train part-time
reservists but last year the drills were opened to ordinary citizens
-- to foster popular resistance if the military is overwhelmed.

World

Thousands of Ukrainians are training to protect their cities in case
Russia invades

January 19, 20223:04 PM ET
Eleanor Beardsley

Eleanor Beardsley

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Thousands of Ukrainians are training to protect their cities in case
Russia invades

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[training_n]
Enlarge this image

Members of Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces take part in a
Saturday morning training outside Kyiv. New members who have not yet
trained with the unit must begin with the basics, and wooden mock
weapons, regardless of their experience level. Pete Kiehart for NPR 
hide caption

toggle caption
Pete Kiehart for NPR

Members of Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces take part in a
Saturday morning training outside Kyiv. New members who have not yet
trained with the unit must begin with the basics, and wooden mock
weapons, regardless of their experience level.

Pete Kiehart for NPR

KYIV, Ukraine -- In cities across Ukraine, there are billboards that
show a smiling young man beckoning in full battle gear. "Learn how to
defend your home today," the message says.

The advertisement from Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces, an
offshoot of the army, seems to be working. As Ukrainians prepare for
a possible Russian invasion, thousands of citizens are volunteering
to train in case they have to help protect their cities.

As tension over Ukraine continues, Russia says it has no plans to
stage an attack

Europe

As tension over Ukraine continues, Russia says it has no plans to
stage an attack

On the edge of a forest outside Kyiv, about 60 men and women line up
to begin six hours of military tactical training on a frigid Saturday
morning.

Civilian clothes are left inside cars parked along the dirt road.
Dressed in battle fatigues and cradling guns and wooden replicas,
this group is ready for action.

"I decided for me, it's time to be prepared," says Yegor Soboliev, a
former member of Ukraine's parliament. Soboliev says he signed up
after Russian President Vladimir Putin began to move troops to
Ukraine's border.

[training_n]
Enlarge this image

Members of the Territorial Defense Forces stretch before taking part
in training in January. As Ukrainians prepare for a possible Russian
invasion, thousands of citizens are volunteering to train in case
they have to help protect their cities. Pete Kiehart for NPR hide
caption

toggle caption
Pete Kiehart for NPR

Members of the Territorial Defense Forces stretch before taking part
in training in January. As Ukrainians prepare for a possible Russian
invasion, thousands of citizens are volunteering to train in case
they have to help protect their cities.

Pete Kiehart for NPR

"This is a good way of being trained for people who have jobs,
families and for older people," he says with a chuckle. "I think this
will change the situation with our security dramatically."

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How U.S. Military Aid Has Helped Ukraine Since 2014

Soboliev says Ukraine, like Israel, should be prepared for war at any
minute to protect its independence.

Ordinary Ukrainians began training last year to prepare for a Russian
invasion

The Territorial Defense Forces were set up to train part-time
reservists after 2014, when Russia seized and annexed Crimea.

But last year, the drills were opened to ordinary citizens as part of
the country's strategic defense plan in the event of a potential
invasion by Russia -- to foster popular resistance if the Ukrainian
military is overwhelmed. They're learning guerrilla tactics and
firearm basics.

[training_n]
Enlarge this image

The deputy chief of the battalion, Vlas Honcharuk, 50, says
Ukrainians need to be able to defend their cities block by block.
Pete Kiehart for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Pete Kiehart for NPR

The deputy chief of the battalion, Vlas Honcharuk, 50, says
Ukrainians need to be able to defend their cities block by block.

Pete Kiehart for NPR

Eastern Ukraine is already embroiled in a separatist war fueled by
Russia. Civilians at this training guess there's a 50-50 chance
Russian troops will now invade. The deputy chief of the battalion,
50-year-old Vlas Honcharuk, says Ukrainians must be able to defend
their cities block by block.

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How Ukraine Got Tangled Up In A Trump Impeachment Inquiry

"I feel a little bit tired, but pumped up," he says. "I'm here
because I'm Ukrainian and there's a war going on. Because Putin
actually is the Hitler of 21st century. History repeats."

The trainees are learning how to shoot and crawl in the forest. The
littered shell of a partially constructed cement factory provides a
setting to practice urban guerrilla tactics.

[training_n]
Enlarge this image

The Territorial Defense Forces were set up to train part-time
reservists. But last year, the drills were opened to ordinary
citizens as part of the country's strategic defense plan in the event
of a potential invasion by Russia -- to foster a civilian resistance
if the Ukrainian military is overwhelmed. Pete Kiehart for NPR hide
caption

toggle caption
Pete Kiehart for NPR

The Territorial Defense Forces were set up to train part-time
reservists. But last year, the drills were opened to ordinary
citizens as part of the country's strategic defense plan in the event
of a potential invasion by Russia -- to foster a civilian resistance
if the Ukrainian military is overwhelmed.

Pete Kiehart for NPR

Many of the volunteers are old enough to remember when Russians and
Ukrainians were Soviet brothers. They say Ukrainians did not have
such a strong separate identity following its independence from the
Soviet Union in 1991. But now, thanks to Putin's military aggression
and propaganda, says Honcharuk, a true Ukrainian nation is being
forged.

"Why did they start this war? Because they don't even consider
Ukraine as a proper nation," he says. "They think of Ukrainians and
Belarusians as Russian, but a kind of second-class Russian, what we
call a village Russian. And that's why they're always saying, 'Aw,
come off it, cut it out with this independence stuff.'" Honcharuk
calls the Russian attitude "offensive."

Nearly half a million Ukrainian civilians are already involved in
their country's defense effort in the east

Civilian defense is not an unknown concept in Ukraine. In 2014, when
the war against Russian-backed separatists began in the east,
volunteer brigades made up a large part of the country's forces.

[training_n]
Enlarge this image

Members of the Territorial Defense Forces take a break during
training. Many of the volunteers are old enough to remember when
Russians and Ukrainians were Soviet brothers. Pete Kiehart for NPR 
hide caption

toggle caption
Pete Kiehart for NPR

Members of the Territorial Defense Forces take a break during
training. Many of the volunteers are old enough to remember when
Russians and Ukrainians were Soviet brothers.

Pete Kiehart for NPR

Retired Ukrainian Gen. Volodymyr Havrylov says the situation now is
totally different. He says the Ukrainian army, with more than 200,000
active-duty personnel, is well trained and prepared, and most
importantly, highly motivated and fighting to defend its own
territory. And not just the army, he says -- ordinary citizens, too.

"Our troops, our military and civil society are all highly motivated
compared with what it was in 2014," he says. "Today we have more than
400,000 citizens participating in all kinds of activities to help
with the war effort in the east. This is a very critical mass of
people which was absent in 2014."

Oleksiy Vasylchenko, a 55-year-old digital marketer and part-time
diving instructor, was in the Soviet army 35 years ago. He says when
Russia took Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and stirred up the fighting
in the east, Putin poisoned relations between Ukrainians and
Russians, many of whom maintained close personal ties after the
Soviet collapse.

"A lot of my friends, my relatives, called me and say that we are
fascists here, we kill everybody," he says. "Because Russian
propaganda all time says that [Ukraine is] nationalist, it's fascist
and [Ukrainians] ... kill people [who] speak in Russian language."

Utter fabrication, says Vasylchenko, noting that Russian is commonly
spoken in Ukraine. But now, he says, because of Putin's aggressive
tactics, people are switching to Ukrainian.

Many Ukrainians tell NPR they now feel closer to Europe than in the
past and their values are in line with European values. That bond is
being strengthened as Ukrainians travel more frequently to Europe. In
2017, the European Union waived visas for Ukrainians.

[training_n]
Enlarge this image

Marta Yuzkiv, a doctor who works in medical trials, poses for a
portrait while training. "I would like to say that we are in danger
now, and not just danger for Ukraine, but danger for the whole
democratic world," she says. "So I hope all together we can stop
Putin." Pete Kiehart for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Pete Kiehart for NPR

Marta Yuzkiv, a doctor who works in medical trials, poses for a
portrait while training. "I would like to say that we are in danger
now, and not just danger for Ukraine, but danger for the whole
democratic world," she says. "So I hope all together we can stop
Putin."

Pete Kiehart for NPR

Marta Yuzkiv, a doctor who works in medical trials when she's not
volunteering for military training, says Ukrainians feel they're
fighting for something bigger.

"I would like to say that we are in danger now, and not just danger
for Ukraine, but danger for the whole democratic world," she says.
"So I hope all together we can stop Putin. And I know that all
Ukrainian partners are supporting us in this effort, so we are
grateful for this."

Ukraine is receiving military help from NATO, Europe and the U.S. On
Wednesday, the Biden administration announced an additional $200
million in defensive military aid. If Putin invades, Secretary of
State Antony Blinken said, that support will increase.

[training_n]
Enlarge this image

Members of the Territorial Defense Forces take part in training on
the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. Pete Kiehart for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Pete Kiehart for NPR

Members of the Territorial Defense Forces take part in training on
the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine.

Pete Kiehart for NPR

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