A drone hovers in the sky of Bakhmut on February 1, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. AFP
KYIV — A hairdresser by day and a “drone hunter” by night, Oleksandr Shamshur, 41, is among tens of thousands of volunteers helping defend the skies over Ukraine against Russian attacks.
As the Feb. 24 first anniversary of Russia’s invasion nears, Ukraine is becoming increasingly adept at shooting down Russian missiles and drones fired at cities far from the front lines, and Shamshur takes pride in his own role.
Members of his territorial defense unit, including a lawyer and a businessman, respond to air raid alerts in and around the capital Kyiv by seeking to down Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones with a restored World War Two machine gun.
“I am a very happy person. Why? Because I am defending my country, I am defending our Ukrainian people,” Shamshur said as he combed the capital’s moonlit skyline through a thermal camera with a range finder from his position on a rooftop.
Nearby, a fellow fighter was adjusting the green barrels of the Soviet-made “Maxim” machine gun.
“But at the same time I can come to the beauty salon and work with the people, do the work I know, cut hair and talk to clients,” said Shamshur.
He said it never occurred to him as a civilian to “run away and hide somewhere” when tens of thousands of Russian armored forces stormed into a stunned Ukraine last winter and began bombarding Kyiv and other cities.
“With the enemy at the doorstep, I had to do something, I had to act in defense,” he said.
During the night of Dec. 29-30, Shamshur said, his rooftop unit shot down two drones over Kyiv. His team have also passed on the skills they have learned to other units.
Shamshur sports several badges on his camouflage uniform, including one, “Drone Hunters,” in English, and another in Ukrainian reading “Ronin” – a feudal Japanese warrior – that he has adopted as his nom-de-guerre.
When Russia invaded, Shamshur – an army reservist before the war – learned that his military base had already been destroyed by Russian shelling so he joined territorial defenses, initially delivering food to civilians and helping evacuate people.
At work in his salon, still wearing military khaki as he styled a client’s hair, he said he tries not to talk to his clients about the war, calling it “dark” in contrast to the “light” in the peaceful part of his life.