Via AFP:

Young men and women in the nationalist heartland of western Ukraine are signing up to defend their country from what they call "Russian aggressors" who have taken over Crimea.

"I'm a high-ranking Judoka and can shoot well," said Tetiana Turtshina as she waited outside her local police station in the pro-European city of Lviv.

The owner of an advertising agency, Turtshina supports the call-up of volunteers that has come ahead of Sunday's referendum in Crimea on joining the Russian Federation, two weeks after pro-Kremlin forces seized the Black Sea peninsula.

"There are many volunteers...

Continue reading...