SEE IT: Rifle-toting Ukrainian grandma trains to fight pro-Russia rebels
Ekateryna Bilyk, 68, attended volunteer military training, usually reserved for 18- to 40-year-olds, to learn how to defend herself during ongoing clashes between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russia rebels. She originally signed up with her grandson, but went solo when he got embarrassed and bailed.
BY Meg Wagner
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, January 13, 2015, 10:40 AM





Rifle-wielding Ukrainian grandma Ekateryna Bilyk attended military training to learn how to protect her family during the ongoing Ukraine-Russia clashes. Taras Peniaky / depo.ua Rifle-wielding Ukrainian grandma Ekateryna Bilyk attended military training to learn how to protect her family during the ongoing Ukraine-Russia clashes.



Don’t mess with this granny.

A 68-year-old Ukrainian woman attended volunteer military training in a bid to protect herself and her family during the ongoing Ukraine-Russia clashes — and photos of the gun-toting grandma went viral.

Ekateryna Bilyk marched and learned how to fire a rifle, practiced medical assistance and marched across frozen fields during the weekend training, usually reserved for 18- to 40-year-olds, Ukraine’s depo.ua reported.

Pro-Russia separatists and Ukrainian forces have clashed in Ukraine’s Donetsk region since the spring.

The U.N. estimates more than 4,700 people have died as a result of the conflict. On Tuesday alone, at least 10 civilians were killed when rebels shelled a bus driving near an army checkpoint.

Bilyk said she learned about the volunteer training from her grandson, who planned to enroll.

“I said: 'Attaboy, learning to defend the Motherland is such a good thing! Especially when people are paying attention to you and teaching you — that's beautiful! I'll go, too.' And I went,” she said, according to a translation by the Moscow Times.

But when the day came to go to training, Bilyk’s grandson bailed, embarrassed to be seen with his grandmother. But Bilyk wasn’t giving up: She went alone.



The 68-year-old woman was older than the usual 18- to 40-year-old recruits. Taras Peniaky / depo.ua

Then, she had to coax her instructors into letting her in.

“I told them: ‘And what am I going to do if the same thing as in Donetsk and Luhansk starts happening? What am I going to do with separatists?’” she said. “And they gave me an automatic rifle and taught me to shoot.”

Turns out, the 68-year-old was a top-notch recruit.

Her teacher told depo.ua she didn’t miss a single exercise — unlike some of her younger, male cohorts.

While Bilyk is too old to serve in the military, she said the lessons will help her defend herself if she needs to and classed her new training as “very useful knowledge.”

With News Wire Services

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/worl...icle-1.2075857



nenek Vita jelas kalah