To be honest, when I first heard that Miss Ukraine 2015, Anastasia Lenna, enlisted in Ukraine’s militia, I took it for nothing more than an ex-beaty pageant winner’s last gasp at relevancy.
Then I found out that at least three Ukrainian women Members of Parliament Lesia Vasylenko, Kira Rudik and Inna Sovsun have also enlisted (see videos below).
These three aren’t alone. As reported by India Today (first video below), estimates are as high as 38,000 Ukrainian women have joined the Territorial Defense Forces in the face of the Russian invasion.
In regard to Lenna, this Ukrainian certainly has her Irish up.
Reported by Britain’s The Mirror; (emphasis mine);
A former Miss Ukraine has pledged to shoot Russian invaders crossing her country’s border.
Anastasia Lenna has traded her tiara for army boots and an assault rifle as she trains for the frontline to battle invading Russian troops.
Anastasia, who won the crown at the Miss Grand International Beauty contest in 2015, issued the chilling threat on her Instagram.
She wrote: “Everyone who crosses the Ukrainian border with the intent to invade will be killed!”
In another post, she praised the Ukrainian army, claiming they are fighting so well that “Nato should apply for entry into Ukraine”.
Anastasia has also called on other Ukrainians to confuse Russian troops by removing road signs from the country’s streets, the Sun reports.
She wrote: “Dismantling road signs on all roads of the country. The enemy has a pathetic connection, they don’t orientate the terrain. Let’s help them go straight to hell.
But it doesn’t end there.
As reported by the Interfax Ukrainian News Agency, Ukraine is also establishing their own version of a Foreign Legion (emphasis mine);
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky announced the formation of a new unit – the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine, which will be recruited from foreigners who want to take part in repelling Russian aggression.
“To all foreigners who want to join the resistance to the Russian invaders and the protection of world security, the leadership of Ukraine offers to come to our state and join the ranks of the Territorial Defense Forces. A separate unit is being formed from foreigners – the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine.
Something else of note; despite the name, the Military Times is actually a privately-owned publisher.
With that out of the way, the Military Times has just published a step-by-step how-to for joining Ukraine’s International Legion.