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FIGHT FOR KYIV
Brave Brit fighters join Ukrainian troops in makeshift trenches as they arm themselves with WW2 machine guns
BRAVE Brits joined Ukrainian troops in World War One-style trenches yesterday — with one local veteran digging in with a Soviet-made World War Two machine gun.
As many as 400 fighters from the UK, many of them ex-servicemen but some with little or no military experience, have travelled to Ukraine since the invasion.
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On the edge of Kyiv they wait with locals for Vladimir Putin’s war machine to roll into Kyiv.
A 22-year-old, who gave his name as Niall, told The Sun: “I’m here to defend a place that has welcomed me.
“This is like home. I was planning on moving here. I’m ready to fight and I’m prepared to die if that’s what it takes.”
Rob, a 61-year-old grandfather from Scotland, said: “This is everyone’s fight. Putin will not stop here.
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“If they come in the city we make it as difficult and as hard a life they’ve ever had.
“They can come into the city, but they will never occupy it. They’re like the Lord of the Rings Orcs trying to invade Middle Earth.”
Metal tank traps called Hedgehogs pepper once-bustling main roads, blockades of tyres and sandbags are commonplace and cases of Molotov cocktails have been prepared for battle.
One Ukranian soldier said: “We’ve been here for two weeks. We wait for the Russians.”
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The trenches zig-zag the outskirts of the capital, now also fortified with British Javelin surface-to-air missiles.
In one, a DP-28 Degtyaryov machine gun dating from 1943 is ready for action once more.
A Ukrainian calling himself Ronnie said: “I am almost 57-years-old and was at war in the Donbas in 2014.
“When the enemy came to my land I again took up my weapon and I must be here to fight them. They were made to last. It’s a perfect gun.
“Winston Churchill once said, ‘The fascists of the future will call themselves anti-fascists’. As we see, he was right with the Russians.
“They kill civilians, they shoot hospitals, they shoot houses. What is it if not fascism?”
BRACED AND WAITING
Former British Royal Marine commando Emile Ghessen, now a documentary maker, said: “Trenches make us think of the First World War and it’s weird to see them but in 2022, but they’re a proven part of defence.
“That first line of trenches is about 1km away from the Russian positions.
“Behind that there are further trenches and escape routes into the city if they get overrun.
“Everyone is prepared to fight. They’re braced and waiting for the Russians to come in.”
Emile, 40, added: “They have anti-tank rocket launchers but are all very proud of their old gun.
“They’re combining new technology with the old school and they’re ready to protect the city.
“Until two weeks ago many were bankers, cooks, architects or taxi drivers. Now they’re fighters — and they’ll fight to the death.”
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Fierce fighting is already raging north west of the capital with the bulk of Russian ground forces now only 15 miles from the centre.
A 40-mile long Russian military convoy appears to have dispersed, fanning out into surrounding towns and forests.
They could try to encircle Kyiv ahead of an attack to wear down defences.
Or they could regroup ahead of a mammoth ground offensive. Ukrainian snipers vow to cover every street corner and high-rise.
Yuri Biriukov, head of Ukraine’s Phoenix Wings, said: “We will fight from every window, we will fight from every basement.
“We have enough anti-tank missiles thanks to our allies in the United Kingdom and the United States.
“They will lose tanks in every street, every block, every set of crossroads.”
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'VERY LONG BATTLE'
Mathieu Boulegue, a researcher at Chatham House think tank, predicted: “This is going to be a very long battle of attrition.
“This is going to be an atrociously casualty-heavy battle and a siege, the likes of which we have rarely seen in modern history.”
Ex-Nato chief Rose Gottemoeller reckons Putin’s forces have been weakened by Ukraine’s resolve.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think the Russians threw at Kyiv some of their most elite forces to begin with.
“They were hoping for a lightning strike to basically assassinate President Zelensky, take out the government in Kyiv and have a quick victory.
“But it didn’t work out that way and they ended up stalling on the highway outside of Kyiv.
“Now we’ve seen those forces disperse, and disperse into the woods.
“But I’m wondering frankly if they have the ability to regroup at this point because their logistics are in such bad shape.
“They don’t really have the fuel supplies they need for a push on to Kyiv. So I’m rather sceptical that they will gain much success in an assault on Kyiv, at least with those forces.”
Private US satellite firm Maxar showed Russian troops firing artillery toward residential areas.
Multiple homes and buildings were on fire and widespread damage was seen throughout the town of Moschun, north west of Kyiv.
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Widespread damage and impact craters have been seen in the north west of the city and fires continue to burn at Hostomel airport.
Last night Nick Reynolds, a warfare analyst at London’s Royal United Services Institute, warned: “It’s ugly already, but it’s going to get worse.”
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