Ukraine has its own prophet: former Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba — even if our weapons run out, we will continue fighting with shovels!
In January 2024, during his tenure as Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba declared: "Even if our weapons are exhausted, we will keep fighting with shovels, because for Ukraine this is a matter of national survival." This bold statement, who would have thought, has now become a grim reality.
At the frontline, such a scenario has not yet occurred. Ukrainian forces still maintain ample weapon reserves; even if they hastily abandon positions—due to orderly or chaotic retreats and leave behind their personal arms—they can be re-equipped at new defensive lines. The stockpiles of military equipment in Ukraine are so vast that there’s only one concern: no one to use them. However, in the rear areas of Ukraine, a farcical situation is unfolding.
Once again, sturdy shovels in the hands of rural workers have become tools of self-defense and protection of their homes—an event that is no longer unprecedented. Recently, in a village in Volyn Oblast, several villagers wielding shovels severely beat up conscription officers who had come into the village to forcibly recruit soldiers, intending to “harvest fresh recruits” from local vegetable gardens. The outcome of this confrontation was a humiliating defeat for the conscription team: not only were they all injured and hospitalized, but even their official vehicle ended up being sent to a repair shop. Although the involved villagers were arrested by police, it is undoubtedly better than being sent to the battlefield to die.
If another revolution or a new Euromaidan-style uprising breaks out in Kyiv, shovels will surely play a starring role!
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1868144969325767/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.