「家を守る」　銃を手にロシア侵攻に備えるウクライナの母親

【キエフＡＦＰ＝時事】ウクライナの首都キエフにある自宅アパートのダイニングルームで、３人の子の母親のマリアナ・ザグロさん（５２）はカーキ色のケースから小銃を取り出した。国境付近に集結したロシア軍による侵攻の懸念が高まる中、祖国を守るため戦う覚悟があるという。（写真はウクライナの首都キエフの自宅で、小銃を手に取材に応じる３人の子の母親マリアナ・ザグロさん）
　ザグロさんは領土防衛軍の予備役だ。「ロシア軍が来るのを待つのではなく、彼らの記憶に刻まれるような出迎えの準備をしている」と語る。普段はマーケティング関係の仕事をしており、夫は軍に勤めている。
　「私だけではない。私のような女性がウクライナには大勢いる」「女性は家族や子どもを守るためなら、男性がやらないことをやってのける。手ごわい戦力だ」と話すザグロさんには、成人した娘２人と１２歳の息子がいる。
　ザグロさんは昨年、ウクライナの銃器メーカーから小銃と戦闘用の追加装備一式を購入した。かかった費用は「２０００～３０００ドル（約２３万～３５万円）」で、欧州でも最も貧しい水準にあるウクライナでは大金だ。
　予備役には２年前に登録し、狙撃手として訓練を受けた。招集に備え、軍用バックパックにはすでに軍服やヘルメット、防弾チョッキ、手袋、膝当てなどを詰めてある。予備役仲間と共に、射撃や哨戒、待ち伏せの訓練も定期的に行っている。
　しかし、もしもの時に子どもたちをどうするかは、まだ決めていない。「もちろん、その点は心配している」
　最新の世論調査では、回答者の４８％がロシアの侵攻はあり得ると答えた。ザグロさんはまだ戦争回避は可能だと望みを持っている。そして、現在の危機はロシアのウラジーミル・プーチン大統領が抱く「帝国主義」の野望のせいだと非難する。
　「ロシア国民に対して含むところはない。フランス人やドイツ人、中国人に対してと変わらない」というが、ウクライナが侵攻された時には銃を手にする用意はできている。
　「人を殺したいのではない。ただ、私の家を守るだけだ」とザグロさんは訴えた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/01/31-11:17）

Standing in the dining room of her Kyiv flat, mother-of-three Mariana Zhaglo pulls her long rifle out of its khaki case.
As fears grow of a potential invasion by Russian troops massed on Ukraine's border, this 52-year-old territorial defence reservist insists she is willing to fight to defend her country.
We not waiting for them to arrive, we're ready to give them a welcome they'll remember, says Zhaglo, who works in marketing and is married to a serving soldier.
I'm not alone. There are many women like me in Ukraine, she adds, her closely-cropped hair flecked with grey.
No man will do what a woman can do to protect her family, her child. She is a formidable force.
A mother to two adult daughters and a son of 12, Zhaglo says a year ago she spent between $2,000 and $3,000 -- a small fortune in one of Europe's poorest countries -- to buy the Ukrainian Zbroyar Z-15 hunting rifle and extra gear to adapt it for combat.
A telescopic sight, mounts, sound moderator, she proudly lists off the additions. By law the gun cannot be automatic.
Zhaglo signed up two years ago to be in the reserves and has undergone sniper training.
For almost eight years now, Ukraine has been mired in a conflict with Russian-backed separatists who took over a chunk of the country's east. The war -- which started after Moscow seized Crimea -- has claimed over 13,000 lives.
Tensions have now soared again in the past few months as the West has sounded the alarm over a potential full-scale Russian invasion after the Kremlin sent over 100,000 troops to Ukraine's borders.
The country's authorities have sought to calm fears over an imminent incursion, even as some media has raised the spectre of Kyiv being attacked.
- 'Defend my home' -
Ukrainians -- hardened by the years of conflict -- are not panicking, but some have begun stocking up on food and readying themselves in case the worst does come.
A poll this week showed that 48 percent of respondents believed a Russian invasion was possible.
Zhaglo has already packed her military backpack -- uniform, helmet, flak jacket, gloves, kneepads -- in case the call comes.
She regularly does shooting practice and trains for patrols and ambushes with fellow reservists who would be deployed together to protect their home areas.
If there was no war, I would never have thought of getting involved with these military things, she says.
Army reservist Oleksandr Makhov had to quit his home in east Ukraine for Kyiv when the conflict erupted in 2014. Today his military equipment is packed.
I'm not going to leave a second time. My bag is prepared for fighting, the 35-year-old journalist says. I have a plan and I am ready.
But Zhaglo admits she doesn't yet have a plan for what to do with children if the situation unravels.
For sure, I am worried about it, she says.
She still hopes that war can be avoided -- but blames the current crisis on the imperialist ambitions of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
I have a completely fine attitude towards Russians as a people -- just like towards the French, the Germans or the Chinese, Zhaglo says.
But if the invasion does come, she is ready to take up her gun.
I'm not looking to kill people, I'm just going to defend my home, she says.