Topics: Ukraine, World News, Russia
A Ukrainian woman has been praised for her bravery after footage of her confronting a Russian soldier was shared on social media.
The clip, which was reportedly filmed in Henichesk, a city on the southern coast of Ukraine, showed the woman on the street as she spoke to a small group of Russian troops, shouting at them to leave her country.
'What the f*** are you doing here?' she said according to a translation of the interaction.
One of the soldiers responded to the woman by asking her to leave the area to avoid escalating the situation, telling her, 'We have exercises here. Please go this way.'
But the woman refused to back down, continuing to berate them, telling them, 'You’re occupants, you’re fascists! What the f*** are you doing on our land with all these guns?'
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After being asked to leave again by the soldier, she took a handful of seeds from a sunflower — the national symbol of Ukraine — from her pocket and offered them to the troops, saying, 'Take these seeds and put them in your pockets so at least sunflowers will grow after you die.'
'You will lie down here with the seeds. You came to my land. Do you understand? You are occupiers. You are enemies. From this moment you are cursed, I am telling you,' she shouted at the soldier.
As the soldier continued to tell her, 'Let's not escalate the situation,' the woman again refused, telling him, 'How can it be further escalated? You f**king came here uninvited. Pieces of s***!'
The identity of the woman has not been confirmed, but she's been winning plaudits for her brave actions under heartbreaking circumstances, with fellow Ukrainians saying her words embodied their spirit in the face of the Russian invasion.
'The coming days and nights in #Ukraine are likely going to be long and hard. But with spirit like this woman shows, #Putin may find he bit off way more than he can chew. #PocketSunflowers to grow sunflowers from their graves!' one person tweeted.
Ukrainian citizens are preparing to defend their country as the Russian invasion enters its second day, with President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed overnight that he had officially ordered a general mobilisation of the army, with martial law declared and men aged between 18-60 barred from leaving the country.
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