An unexpected recruit turned up to a military training for civilians in Zhdachyv on Jan. 11, a town in Lviv Oblast, and she seemed surprisingly comfortable with a submachine gun. Kateryna Apolinariyivna is learning to fend off potential Russian invaders at the tender age of 68.
Photos of the woman in a classic ‘babushka’ headscarf enjoying a shooting lesson were posted to Facebook by a witness of the training and went viral immediately. She seems almost to have a wicked half-smile as she stands on one knee, effortlessly wielding a powerful-looking submachine gun.
According to the photographer, Facebook user Serg Stroy, she introduced herself as 68 year-old Kateryna Apolinariyivna, using her name and patronymic, as older people in Ukraine usually do.
Facebook commentators identified the gun she’s firing as a Heckler & Koch MP5, a 9mm submachine gun.
“Ok, this puts me to shame. I’m going to a shooting range now,” another facebook user, Angela Aravina, commented on the photos.
“If it’s western Ukraine, then I’m 100 percent sure that babushka brought her own weapon,” wrote Sergey Samoylenko.
But no matter how good she is with a gun, Kateryna Apolinariyivna will not make it into the Ukrainian army – she is already 28 years past its age limit for new recruits.
