Far-Right Ukrainian Military Unit Teaches Children And Pensioners To Defend Their Country

A 79-year-old resident of Mariupol in Ukraine's south, Valentyna Konstantynovska, says she wants to be ready to defend her family in case of a Russian invasion. She was among a group of civilians, including children, who were shown weapons and instructed how to use them. The training was run by a Ukrainian National Guard unit connected to the far-right Azov Battalion, which the FBI linked in 2018 with neo-Nazi ideology and white supremacist organizations. Meanwhile, in Ukraine's Cherkasy region, villagers are also preparing to fight using their own hunting rifles. (UPDATE: This story has been amended to reflect the connection between the training and the far-right Azov Battalion. This connection was not included in the initial AP video the story is based on.)