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Ukrainian member of parliament is ‘ready to go and shoot’ Russian troops to defend her country

February 26, 2022 | | Print Article

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(Video: CNN)

A female member of the Ukrainian parliament who went viral after posting a photo of herself standing at her home window armed with a rifle has gone even more viral for telling CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that she’s “ready” to kill some Russian invaders.

Appearing on CNN’s “The Situation Room” late Friday, MP Kira Rudik offered the fierce words after being asked to explain why she’d posted the photo.

“Well, because it was super unusual and super crazy for myself to understand and realize that I’m holding a gun, and I’m ready to bear arms, and I’m ready [to] go and shoot the other human beings,” she said.

Unusual as it may be, she continued, the Russians brought it on themselves.

“Russian soldiers are coming to Kyiv, and Russian soldiers are trying to take what is actually not theirs. And it’s such a weird switch, from your ordinary life, when you are thinking that they may come, but you’re still a member of parliament, and you’re doing meetings and legislation and talking to people,” she said.

“And then one day, you just know that they’re coming, and then you have to do something. And that’s when you get a gun, and then you learn how to shoot it. And then you understand that you need to get a group of resistance, which we did,” she added.

Below is the photo that made her into a viral sensation:

Asked by Blitzer to describe “how intense” the fighting has been in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital and where she lives, Rudik said it’s been “intensifying” by the day.

“So for the last two days there has been like 11 Air Force attacks, and they are very often right now. For the last couple of hours, we had like at least three sirens, so we had to go to the bomb shelter. And you see the stairs behind me. This is under them. My family and I, we hide here. So it’s intensifying,” she said.

However, she continued, the Russians’ march into Kyiv has been relatively slow because of all of the resistance that the Ukrainians have mounted.

“There are Russian forces on in the north and the south of the city, but they’re not moving and making great progress. We are throwing them back. And we are actually biting them very, very hard. The last, like, two days, there has been 3,000 people, of casualties, in Russian Army. So that’s a fantastic result for Ukrainian army,” she explained.

In an update posted early Saturday morning eastern standard time, the Ukranian Ministry of Defence reported similarly.

“Russian casualties are likely to be heavy and greater than anticipated or acknowledged by the Kremlin,” the ministry wrote.

Indeed, Russia has thus far denied any casualties.

“On Friday, Russian Ministry of Defense spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said there were no casualties on the Russian side,” according to CNN.

Yet video and photo evidence coming out of Ukraine clearly shows otherwise (*Graphic content):

Leonid Mikhailovich Volkov, a close ally of famous Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, wrote in a Facebook post published Friday that Konashenkov’s claim is a “bold, absurd, easily tested and simply refuted” lie that erases the existence of the soldiers.

“It’s treason, neglect of people’s lives. So they never existed. They were removed from military service within a minute of their death. It’s not just a lie. It’s propaganda under the guide of an official press release,” he wrote, according to a translation from FB.

Look:

(Source: Facebook)

Continuing his questioning of Rudik on CNN, Blitzer then asked her whether Putin has “underestimated the resolve of the Ukrainian people.”

She replied that he “absolutely” has.

“He underestimated the readiness of our army. And he underestimated that on every step of the way, his soldiers, they were given like a really hard resistance. And people are arming themselves, people are fighting them at every inch of our soil. This is what the citizens have to do. And this is what we do,” she said.

The discussion concluded with the CNN host asking whether she ever imagined that she’d be taking up arms for survival one day.

She said no.

“Like, if you would have told me that three days ago, I would have said, ‘Wolf, you are crazy.’ But now, this is our new reality. And we have to, we have to do the best, what we can, in this new reality,” she said.

“It’s war. It’s active war that is happening in Kyiv now. And we are part of it. And we are not leaving, because this is our city, this is our country. And there is, like, no Putin’s soldiers who will be telling us what to do and where to live,” she added.

Vivek Saxena
Latest posts by Vivek Saxena (see all)

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