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NPR: How these suburban moms in Ukraine manage grief by training to down Russian drones
NPR - How these suburban moms in Ukraine manage grief by training to down Russian drones
Joanna Kakissis
January 10, 2025
5:00 AM ET
NEAR BUCHA, Ukraine — The suburban moms in army-green fatigues assemble their rifles in a cold forest outside the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.
Valentyna trained as a veterinarian. Inna is a teacher. Tetiana used to be a water utilities inspector. The others include a real estate agent, a nanny and a pastry chef.
On a Saturday afternoon, they shoot at targets in a muddy range. Valentyna grins after she nails a shot.
"Feels good," she says, "especially after what we've been through."
The women call themselves the "Combat Witches of Bucha." The name comes from a badge one of the women have depicting a witch with weapons, though the women say the name isn't important. Their mission is. They are part of a female air defense unit training to shoot down drones in the suburbs of Kyiv. They live in those suburbs, where occupying Russian troops killed, tortured and raped residents early in the 2022 invasion. NPR is not disclosing the women's last names at the request of the Ukrainian military.
Almost three years later, the women's trauma and grief still run deep.
"This unit is our medicine," Tetiana says.
/snip
Joanna Kakissis
January 10, 2025
5:00 AM ET
NEAR BUCHA, Ukraine — The suburban moms in army-green fatigues assemble their rifles in a cold forest outside the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.
Valentyna trained as a veterinarian. Inna is a teacher. Tetiana used to be a water utilities inspector. The others include a real estate agent, a nanny and a pastry chef.
On a Saturday afternoon, they shoot at targets in a muddy range. Valentyna grins after she nails a shot.
"Feels good," she says, "especially after what we've been through."
The women call themselves the "Combat Witches of Bucha." The name comes from a badge one of the women have depicting a witch with weapons, though the women say the name isn't important. Their mission is. They are part of a female air defense unit training to shoot down drones in the suburbs of Kyiv. They live in those suburbs, where occupying Russian troops killed, tortured and raped residents early in the 2022 invasion. NPR is not disclosing the women's last names at the request of the Ukrainian military.
Almost three years later, the women's trauma and grief still run deep.
"This unit is our medicine," Tetiana says.
/snip