Former Ukrainian First Lady shares heartwarming photo of 80-year-old man carrying suitcase filled with ‘t-shirts, a toothbrush and sandwiches’ ready to enlist in civilian army to ‘fight for his grandkids’
- Former Ukrainian First Lady Kateryna Yushchenko posted the photo on Twitter
- She said it showed an 80-year-old grandfather showing up to enlist in the army
- He had with him a suitcase filled with t-shirts, underpants, sandwiches and a toothbrush
- ‘He said he was doing it for his grandkids,’ Yuschenko wrote alongside it
- Her husband Viktor Yuschenko was the President of Ukraine from 2005-2010
- In 2004, while running for office, he was poisoned in an assassination attempt
- It has long been believed that Russia was behind the attack and that they wanted to back Yuschenko’s Kremlin-friendly opponent
Among the heartbreaking images of death and destruction coming out of Ukraine on Friday was an awe-inspiring photo, shared by former First Lady Kateryna Yushchenko, of an 80-year-old man enlisting in the army to fight for his grandchildren.
Yushchenko – who grew up in America and is married to Viktor Yushchenko – posted the photo on Twitter on Thursday night.
‘Someone posted a photo of this 80-year-old who showed up to join the army, carrying with him a small case with 2 t-shirts, a pair of extra pants, a toothbrush and a few sandwiches for lunch. He said he was doing it for his grandkids,’ she said.
It’s unclear where the photograph was taken but it went viral around the world on Friday as Russia advanced its assault on Ukraine.
Civilians all over the country are taking up arms against Putin’s troops.
Former First Lady Kateryna Yushchenko, of an 80-year-old man enlisting in the army to fight for his grandchildren
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday released a video which showed him in the center of Kyiv, with members of his cabinet.
They are determined to stay and fight, he said, along with the country’s men and women.
‘We are all here, and that’s how it will be,’ he said.
Yushchenko grew up in Chicago and is the daughter of Ukrainian diplomats. She served in the US State Department and in the Reagan White house.
On Thursday, she and Kerry Kennedy penned an op-ed for The Chicago Tribune appealing to American-Ukrainians, asking them to ‘disseminate’ the truth of what was happening in the region.
It’s unclear where Yuschenko now lives. In her op-ed with Kennedy, the pair referred to her husband being poisoned during his 2004 campaign.
‘Russia has made targeted attacks across Ukraine, a horrific action that we condemn.
Kateryna Yushchenko is the wife of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, shown above in 2004 while running for office. He was poisoned during his campaign and has long believed it was the Kremlin in an effort to kill him and back his pro-Russia opponent
Ukrainian soldiers take position on a bridge inside the city of Kyiv, as Russian forces advance into the capital
Soldiers tasked with defending Kyiv from advancing Russian troops take up positions underneath a highway into the city
Volunteers, one holding an AK-47 rifle, protect a main road leading into Kyiv on February 25, 2022. – Ukrainian forces fought off Russian invaders in the streets of the capital Kyiv on February 25, 2022
A volunteer, holding a rifle, protects a main road leading into Kyiv on February 25, 2022
A young couple joining the territorial defense fighters smile after receiving weapons and ammunition in Kiev, Ukraine, 25 February 2022
Members of the Territorial Defence Forces of Ukraine load ammunition after receiving weapons to defend the city of Kyiv, Ukraine February 25, 2022
‘It is past time for the rest of the world to wake up. It must commit to doing more. More than it did when Putin invaded Georgia in 2008.
‘More than in response to his 2014 illegal occupation of Crimea and of eastern Ukraine.
‘This time, the west must be prepared with a multifaceted plan to offer Ukrainians support, to assure the “survival and success of liberty,”‘ the pair said in their op-ed.
The photograph of the elderly man was among many inspiring images of Ukrainian residents staying behind, determined to fight for their country.
A marine is being hailed as a hero for blowing up a key bridge that Russians wanted to cross over near Crimea, killing himself with it, to stop them.
The marine was named by the General Staff of the Armed Forces as Vitaly Shakun. He was manning the Henichesk bridge in the Kherson region when Russians advanced and mined it.
Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko holds up a Kalashnikov while being interviewed on Friday. He has joined the civilian territorial defense on the streets of Ukraine and says there are lines of people seeking to help but that they don’t have enough arms
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday night posted this video online showing he and members of his cabinet were still in Kyiv at the Government offices. ‘We are all here and that’s how it’ll be,’ he said
Vitaly Shakun was manning the Henichesk bridge in the Kherson region when Russians advanced. According to a post on the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine’s Facebook page, the battalion decided the only way to stop them was to blow up the bridge
Former Ukrainian First Lady Maryna Poroshenko hands out sandwiches to territorial defense soldiers in Kyiv
His efforts and that of the Ukrainian armed forces are significantly slowing down the Russians – one senior defense official cited by CNN said Russian troops are meeting ‘more resistance’ than they anticipated.
‘I can’t give you an exact geographic location of where they are, but they are not moving on Kyiv as fast as they anticipated they would be able to.
‘[They are] meeting more resistance than they expected,’ they added.
On the streets of Kyiv, former leader Petro Poroshenko was among the many civilians forming territorial defense squadrons, ready to take on Putin’s men when they present themselves.
In an emotional interview on CNN, Poroshenko held up his Kalashnikov and vowed never to give in to the Russian leader or his army.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky uploaded a video on Thursday night showing that he was still in Kyiv, at Government offices.
‘We are all here. Our soldiers are here. The citizens are here and we are here. We defend our independence. That’s how it’ll go.
‘Glory to our defenders, both male and female, glory to Ukraine!’ he said.
Night has now fallen in Ukraine and those on the ground say it is eerily quiet aside from the distant thud of explosions and smattering of shelling.
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