Ukraine’s ‘Bucha witches’ volunteer to shoot down Russian drones
Al Jazeera
About 100 women train to target Russian weaponry in the Kyiv suburb that captured the world’s attention at the start of the war.
Bucha, Ukraine – Valentyna beams when she talks about her new vocation – a “witch of Bucha”.
That’s the unofficial moniker of almost 100 women aged 19 to 64 who are volunteers in part-time military service in air defence units in the suburban community northwest of Kyiv.
Each “Bucha witch” trains to handle assault rifles and machineguns to shoot down Russian drones that swarm above their homes several times a month.
The weapons fly towards Kyiv to blow up buildings, prompting Ukrainian air defence forces to launch pricey Western-supplied missiles at them.
The buzzing swarms repeat the route of Russian ground forces in early 2022 when they occupied most of the Bucha district for 33 days and committed atrocities, now well documented, that captured the world’s attention.
