A middle-aged woman from Ukraine scolding a Russian soldier invading her nation delivered a devastating moral blow to Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin and his troops.
The exchange was caught in a video and went viral on social networking sites, just as numbers of other Ukrainians committed acts of unspeakable heroism.
On Friday, it became clear the Ukrainians are resisting quite successfully against the vastly superior Russian forces, even as the Russians were trying to encircle and choke Kyiv.
In order to decapitate the democratic, pro-Western nation of 44 million people, Putin even unleashed in Ukraine a special force of thousands of dreadful Chechen assassins.
Unarmed Middle-Aged Woman vs. Russia’s Might
The brave woman could be seen in a street confronting at least two Russian soldiers who were heavily armed, demanding an explanation as to what they are doing in her country.
She was also cursing them and predicting they are going to end up as “manure” for the Ukrainian soil.
The unidentified woman was asking the Russian soldiers “what the f—” they are doing “in our land” as one of them kept silent; the other one was trying to calm her down.
The soldier could be heard mumbling in response to her domineering questions that he is Russian and part of military drills.
The middle-aged woman kept shouting at the Russian soldiers while trying to give them sunflower seeds to put in their pockets. This way, when they die during the invasion, there will be sunflowers growing out on Ukrainian soil from their bodies.
The sunflower plant is Ukraine’s national symbol. The courageous lady then walked away by telling the Russian soldiers to “go f—“ themselves.
One of most formidable images I've ever come across, and I study war for a living: a Ukrainian woman handing sunflower seeds to a Russian soldier, asking him to pocket the seeds, twice, so that "at least" sunflowers will grow when he will be killed. https://t.co/96QGU13av1 pic.twitter.com/ZGC15RGc0j
— Thomas Rid 🌻 (@RidT) February 25, 2022
Російські окупаційні війська зайшли в місто Геніческ.⁰Відео спілкування з російським загарбником розмістила на своїй сторінці в соцмережі ФБ місцева мешканка.⁰На відео російський військовий не відповідає на питання,яка мета його перебування в місті. ⁰Відео з’явилось о 13:28. pic.twitter.com/Lp95AJu1Tk
— НепоганаТетяна (@ian_tanya) February 24, 2022
Unspeakable Heroism and Tragic Sacrifices
A total of 13 Ukrainian servicemembers died heroically, defying Putin’s troops while defending the Snake Island, a tiny islet in the Black Sea.
The small Ukrainian island defended only by the 13 troops was approached by a Russian military ship; the ensuing exchange over the radio was recorded and live-streamed by one of the Ukrainian servicemen.
In the recording, the Russian military ship told the Ukrainians to lay down their arms and surrender.
The categorical response from the hugely outnumbered and outgunned group of Ukrainian soldiers was a textbook example of defiance, bravery, and sacrifice.
More specifically, the Ukrainians’ reply was, “Russian warship, go f— yourself!” The tiny islet was immediately and mercilessly bombed by the Russians. All 13 Ukrainian heroes perished.
AUDIO: Final Moments Before Russian Warships Opened Fire on 13 Ukrainian Soldiers Holding The Line At Snake Island Killing All Of Them.
Trump Putin Ukraine Russia WWIII NATO Biden pic.twitter.com/zRkgfe3Thw
— World Footage (@WorldFootage) February 25, 2022
Russia blatantly captured Ukrainian island #Zmiinyi, destroying the infrastructure. All 13 🇺🇦 border guards were killed, refusing to surrender. They will be awarded the title «Hero of Ukraine» postmortem, says @ZelenskyyUa
Glory to Ukrainian heroes! 🇺🇦#StopRussianAggression pic.twitter.com/PWEIvqzxyJ
— MFA of Ukraine 🇺🇦 (@MFA_Ukraine) February 25, 2022
Ukraine had its own small version of Thermopylae today.
The tiny (700x600m) Snake Island, was flattened with the ground by the Russians because the Ukrainian soldiers stationer there kept fighting and refused to surrender.
All 13 heroic Ukrainians were killed. pic.twitter.com/wkjUdY49Ce
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) February 24, 2022
In another act of immeasurable sacrifice, Vitaly Skakun, a 27-year-old Ukrainian military engineer, sacrificed himself.
He did this to blow up a large bridge over the Dnepr River to hinder the advance of Russian armor north of the occupied Crimean Peninsula.
The bridge in question had already been mined by the retreating Ukrainians, but the radio detonation malfunctioned. Shakun sacrificed his life in order to blow it up manually.
Vitaly Skakun is a hero after sacrificing his life to blow up the Henichesky Bridge.
The bridge was mined but a Russian column was advancing and there was no time to detonate it remotely.
Skakun radioed his unit and told them he would do it manually, saying goodbye. #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/jeU2tBse2h
— Ukraine Updates (@WW3updated) February 25, 2022
An ukrainian soldier, Vitaly Skokun, blew up the bridge with himself on it to prevent the Russian tanks from crossing. For how much longer will countries refrain from giving weapons to Ukraine? pic.twitter.com/KvUfxVV9X3
— Rasa Juknevičienė (@RJukneviciene) February 25, 2022
In another striking case of heroism, an unarmed Ukrainian man could be seen trying to stop a Russian military convoy in southern Ukraine from advancing. He did this by standing in front of the armored vehicles.
The vehicles temporarily stopped, then managed to go around him without smashing him, but he persisted.
This occurred in a striking reminiscence of the 1989 “tank man” who tried to stop Chinese communist tanks from crushing the democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square, Beijing.
Ukraine’s tank man.
Pure courage. https://t.co/BAXpR9hhKa pic.twitter.com/7Rh3EPj35o
— kenneth sergienko 🏳️🌈🇺🇦🇺🇸🇨🇦 (@gayzillennial) February 25, 2022
Ukraine’s tank man.
Pure courage. https://t.co/BAXpR9hhKa pic.twitter.com/7Rh3EPj35o
— kenneth sergienko 🏳️🌈🇺🇦🇺🇸🇨🇦 (@gayzillennial) February 25, 2022