Fears mount about a Russian invasion and thousands have been drafted to Ukraine’s military reserves.
In preparation for possible conflicts with Moscow, many young people, including some aged 21 years, have been training in Kyiv Territorial Defence Units over the weekend.
A number of civilians across the country signed up for similar training programs in order to learn basic combat skills.
If Russia invades Ukraine, the children will join the civil resistance and fight Russian soldiers.
Since the beginning of last year, the region was on the edge of collapse. Moscow had moved 100,000 troops along with tanks and missiles close to the border with Ukraine. However, tensions have risen in the recent days due to an increase in troop and equipment movements from Russia’s extreme east.
Following a US similar move over the weekend, fears of an invasion are growing that the UK will withdraw its diplomats in Kiev.
As they train for possible conflicts with Moscow, young men and women as young as 21 have taken part in training in Kyiv Territorial Defence units over the weekend. They were located in a snowy forest in Kiev.
Tatiana, 21, a student in veterinary medicine at the university of Kiev (pictured), is among those Ukrainian civilians who were trained alongside Ukrainian soldiers.
Participating civilians in the Kyiv Territorial Defence group train Saturday in snow-covered forests in Kyiv
Mariana, 52, a marketing researcher who for the past two years has been a volunteer in a Kyiv Territorial Defence unit, trains on Saturday in a forest in Kyiv
If Russia threatens Ukraine with an invasion, the young soldiers will join the resistance civil to stop it. Photo: Saturday’s military training is observed by a group of young men
While training in Kyiv, a civilian member of a Kyiv Territorial Defence team tries to repel a Russian soldier’s mock attack.
Tatiana (21 years old), a student in veterinary medicine at the University of Georgia, is one among those who were training alongside Ukrainian soldiers.
Tatiana, who has enrolled in a military reserves program, was among hundreds of others young Ukrainians at a Kyiv Territorial Defence Unit (Kyiv Territorial Defence Unit) training exercise that took place on Saturday in a snowy forest in Kyiv.
Anton, 32 years old, was one of the participants.
They will remain under the direct control of the Ukrainian military if Russia invades Ukraine (a move Putin denies).
The Ukrainian army has 215,000 soldiers and has been fighting a Moscow-backed rebellion in two regions. This has been going on since 2014. It is a conflict with over 13,000 deaths.
Although Ukrainian officials acknowledge the country is unlikely to resist a Russian invasion, Russian occupation troops will likely be faced with a long-lasting, deeply-rooted, and decentralised insurgency.
Daniil Larin (19 years old) said that he believes every citizen of this country needs to know how to respond if an enemy invades their country. He was a university student and took part in training exercises in Kyiv last week.
Larin had joined about 50 Ukrainian civilians in December who drove from Kiev to an abandoned Soviet-era asphalt plant to train for how to defend their country in the event of a Russian invasion.
Mariana, 52-years old, is a marketing researcher and has served two years as a volunteer with a Kyiv Territorial Defence group. On Saturdays, she trains in Kyiv
The Ukrainian military will command the civilians if Russia invades Ukraine. Putin denies this.
The 215,000-strong Ukrainian army has been fighting a Moscow-backed rebel insurgency since 2014. This conflict has raged for over a decade and has killed more than 13,000 people. Photo: On Saturday, Ukrainian civilians took part in a training exercise
On Saturday, a group of civilians formed a line to take part in an imitation Russian invasion in Kyiv’s forest.
On Saturday, Kyiv hosted a training session for civilian members of a Kyiv Territorial Defence group, as well as university students enrolled in military reserve programs.
Officials in Ukraine acknowledge the possibility of a Russian invasion but Russia’s occupation troops could face an extended, deep-rooted insurgency.
As they participate in an exercise for the military on Saturday, many civilians are young and form a line.
Larin stated that the Ukrainian reservists have increased to around 100,000 and are now learning how to use weapons and how to act in battle environments. They also know how to defend their cities.
Marta Yuzkiv (51), a doctor who lives with the war believes the Russian army has a superior military to the Ukrainian one and that there is an imminent invasion. She joined the reserve force because of this.
She said, “Only when everyone is prepared to defend our land will there be a chance.”
Vadym Ozirny said one battalion commander that the reservists would mobilize at a rendezvous location and get to work protecting critical infrastructure, administrative buildings, as well as helping evacuated residents.
Ozirny stated that these people should arrive to receive arms and command their homes.
Ukraine was able to defend its civilian interests in the 2014 attacks by Russian-backed separatists on eastern Ukraine and Crimea.
Moscow announces new, live-fire drills off the coast Ireland this February amid increasing tensions between Russia & the West. These drills are part of a larger series that involves up to 140 vessels across four oceans, including the Atlantic and Pacific.
Sunday’s announcement by the Irish government indicated that drills will be conducted within its “exclusive economic zone” but not in its territorial waters. This is approximately 150 miles from its southwest coast. They are not welcome, it said.
Russia sent 100,000 soldiers to Ukraine’s border, and also issued security requirements for the US and NATO Allies.
While the US is expected to respond by writing this week, high-level negotiations are still ongoing between the US and the alliance about the bulk of the listed items – which includes a ban against Ukraine’s joining as well as the withdrawal of troops of ex-Soviet state exiles –
Volunteer military units of Armed Forces called the Territorial Defense Forces of Ukraine, members of which train in Kyiv’s forests
Participants of Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Forces are volunteer units of Armed Forces that run through forests during an exercise
A customer inspects a camouflage backpack in the military surplus shop of Andriy Stovbyha on January 24, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Stovbyha sells surplus military boots, clothes, sleeping bags and backpacks, as well as other accessories. He says that he’s seen an increase in customers since Russian soldiers began to mass at Ukraine’s border in December.
An assistant helps a customer in the Militarist Military Clothing and Accessories Store on January 24, Kyiv
Boris Johnson, today warning Putin about invading Ukraine. The UK has withdrawn staff from the UK embassy in Kiev.
He delivered the harsh message when he said that there were no prospects for avoiding a confrontation.
Mr Johnson said: ‘The intelligence is very clear that there are 60 Russian battle groups on the borders of Ukraine, the plan for a lightning war that could take out Kyiv is one that everybody can see.
“We have to be very clear with Russia’s Kremlin about this. It would be a disaster.”
The UK government has ruled out sending combat troops, but Mr Johnson said Britain is ‘leading on creating a package of economic sanctions’ against Russia and he would be speaking to international allies later.
He said, “We need to also get a message to Ukraine that invading Ukraine from a Russian standpoint is going to be painful, violent, and bloody.”
“It’s important for Russians to understand that there could be a new Chechnya.”
An officer of the Ukrainian Military Forces walks in a trench along the frontline near Luganske village with Russia-backed separatists on January 11.
Ukraine will have to fight Russia if they invade. Pictured: Soldiers of assault engineer and recovery-and-salvage units of the Russian Army 1st Guards Engineer Brigade are seen during tactical and special training in the city of Murom on January 18
Russian soldiers took part in an exercise in tactical and special training, in Murom city on 18 January
One Ukrainian soldier stands in a trench near the frontline where the army is locked in a long-running battle against Russian separatists.
An officer from Ukraine uses a scope to view the positions of Russian separatists groups at the frontlines in Ukraine’s east.
America warned Russia that it would respond swiftly and severely if Ukraine invades, which could include an escalating of sanctions.
The US may also be looking at military options in order to disarm Putin. This is not a direct confrontation with American forces.
Pentagon officials presented one plan to Joe Biden during a summit at the weekend, which would see between 1,000 and 5,000 US troops deployed to Baltic states Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, which border Russian territory.
If security conditions worsen, troop numbers can be raised to up to 50,000 with the support of new deployments by ships and planes.
According to the New York Times, this plan does not include American troops being deployed to Ukraine directly. However, Biden is believed to be reluctant to engage in another conflict after his disasterous withdrawal from Afghanistan last year.
Biden might make an announcement on military actions as early as next week.
On Friday, an American soldier prepared a pallet full of anti-tank weaponry for transportation to Ukraine. This was done at Dover Air Force Base (Delaware), on Friday
A Ukrainian soldier of the 30th Army Brigade mans a trench near Svitlodarsk, Ukraine
After warnings from Pentagon that an invasion was imminent, the Pentagon ordered families of US diplomats who were stationed in Ukraine to flee the country.
Due to “increased threats by Russian military action”, non-essential staff at ambas were offered an escape route.
This comes just days after the UK claimed that Moscow had been making preparations for a puppet government in Ukraine to control it following any invasion.
Even the Foreign Office went as far as to identify Yevhen Murayev, a former Ukrainian MP as a possible candidate for Kremlin.
Senior officials from the Biden Administration declined to provide specific troop numbers, but stated that they were developing plans and are working with allies in order to decide on options.
America provides military support to Ukraine as well, with weapons for the defense against Russian tanks.