‘I’m Ready to Go and Shoot the Other Human Beings’: CNN Interviews Rifle-Wielding Ukrainian Politician

Ukrainian member of parliament Kira Rudik told CNN on Friday night that she is prepared to shoot and kill Russian troops who encroach into Kyiv.

The MP went viral on Twitter earlier in the day when she posted an image of herself armed with a rifle.

“I learn to use #Kalashnikov and prepare to bear arms,” Rudik wrote. “It sounds surreal as just a few days ago it would never come to my mind. Our #women will protect our soil the same way as our #men. Go #Ukraine!”

I learn to use #Kalashnikov and prepare to bear arms. It sounds surreal as just a few days ago it would never come to my mind. Our #women will protect our soil the same way as our #men. Go #Ukraine! 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/UbF4JRGlcy

— Kira Rudik (@kiraincongress) February 25, 2022

Just before sunrise on Saturday morning in Kyiv, Rudik joined CNN Tonight with Wolf Blitzer.

She told the host that Russian President Vladimir Putin had underestimated the resolve of her and others when he invaded Ukraine on Thursday.

Blitzer asked Rudik why she chose to post the image of herself with a rifle online.

“Because it was super unusual and super crazy for myself to understand and realize that I’m holding a gun, and I’m ready to bear arms and I’m ready to go and shoot the other human beings,” Rudik said. “And the reason for that change was because Russian soldiers are coming to Kyiv and Russian soldiers are trying to take what is actually not theirs. ”

Blitzer asked the MP how intense the fighting is, with Russian forces making an attempt to encircle Ukraine’s capital.

“It’s intensifying, there are Russian forces in the north and the south of the city. But they are not moving and making great progress,” she said. “We are throwing them back, and we are actually fighting them very, very hard. In the last two days, there have been 3,000 people of casualties in Russian army. So, that’s a fantastic result for Ukrainian army.”

Asked by Blitzer if she thought Putin “underestimated the resolve of the Ukrainian people,” Rudik was clear:

I am absolutely sure. He underestimated the readiness of our army, and he underestimated that on every step of the way of his soldiers, they were given really hard resistance. And people are arming themselves. People are fighting them at every inch of our soil. This is what the citizens have to do, and this is what we do.

Watch above, via CNN.