Ukrainian lawmaker and tech executive Kira Rudik repeated her intent to bear arms against Russian troops entering Kyiv during a television interview early Saturday local time, stressing that the country’s leaders should show citizens how to act in support of Ukrainian troops.
“If you would have asked me like three days ago about me bearing arms, I would tell you like definite no, and we would have argument,” she said in an appearance on MSNBC. “And now I have Kalashnikov.”
Her remarks came after she posted a short statement on Friday, showing an image of her holding an automatic rifle.
“I learn to use #Kalashnikov and prepare to bear arms. It sounds surreal as just a few days ago it would never come to mind,” she wrote on Twitter. “Our #women will protect our soil the same way as our #men. Go #Ukraine!” She had earlier said in a CNN interview that nearby explosions were rattling her windows in Kyiv.
Ukraine has been urging its civilians to resist Russian forces in various ways such as manufacturing molotov cocktails, which are generally glass bottles filled with flammable material that function like hand grenades. Around 18,000 weapons have been distributed in the Kyiv region, according to the Ukrainian government.