Report: Ukraine Claims to Have Distributed 10,000 Automatic Rifles Since Russian Invasion

AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File
AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File

A Ukrainian journalist, citing the country’s Interior Ministry, reported on Thursday that the country has distributed 10,000 automatic rifles to civilians since Russian leader Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale assault on Ukraine.

On Thursday, The Kyiv Independent reporter Illia Ponomarenko tweeted:

The news of the distribution of automatic rifles comes on the heels of the Ukrainian Parliament voting to allow civilians to carry firearms as a means of fighting against a Russian incursion.

On Wednesday, Sky News reported that demand at a shooting range in Kyiv was up 200 percent since December. The demand built as Ukrainians watched the tensions with Russia grow.

On Thursday morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made clear the Ukrainian government would provide weapons to anyone who would stand and fight for Ukraine:

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkinsa weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.

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