An Instagram post featuring former Miss Ukraine Anastasiaa Lenna holding a gun has gone viral, with many people applauding her for standing up against Russia.
But is Lenna, who was Ukraine’s representative in the Miss Grand International competition in 2015, actually fighting against the Russian military forces?
She clarified her post on Monday, Feb. 27, saying the photo was meant to inspire people.
“I am not a military, just a woman, just normal human,” she said. “Just a person, like all people of my country.”
“I don’t do any propaganda except showing that our woman of Ukraine - strong, confident and powerful,” Lenna added.
Her post last week showed her in tactical gear and holding a gun, but she clarified that the weapon was actually an airsoft gun. In one post, which has since been deleted, she said “Everyone who crosses the Ukrainian border with the intent to invade will be killed,” the New York Post reported.
While Lenna is not involved in Ukraine’s military efforts, other citizens have volunteered. Civilians have been fighting alongside formal military members since Russia’s invasion began on Thursday, Feb. 24.
“It turned out that people are coming out, defending their homes,” Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidential chief of staff,” said Saturday, according to The New York Times. “It wasn’t expected by analysts of the Russian General Staff.”
Ukraine has also invited international volunteers to join its legion to fight against Russia, McClatchy News reported
“Anyone who wants to join the defense of security in Europe and the world can come and stand side by side with Ukrainians against the invaders of the 21st century,” Ukraine president Volodymr Zelenskyy said.
Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine on three fronts early Thursday, Feb. 24, “bombarding cities, towns and villages” as troops advanced toward the capital of Kyiv.
Ukraine, the second-largest nation in Europe by land mass, was part of the former Soviet Union until it declared independence in 1991.