中世のよろいから防弾チョッキに　ウクライナの鍛冶師

【ザポリージャＡＦＰ＝時事】ウクライナ南部ザポリージャの鍛冶師ワディム・ミルニチェンコさん（３９）は、中世の一騎打ち競技「ジョスト」で使う剣や防具を作っていた。だが、今はその情熱をロシアと戦うウクライナのために注いでいる。（写真はザポリージャの工房で防弾チョッキを試着するアンドリー・パリーさん）
　ミルニチェンコさんは、独学で鍛冶を学んだ。小さく暗い工房には、完成品や作りかけの剣、よろいが所狭しと置かれている。
　ジョストはウクライナではスポーツの一つとされ、馬に乗らずに地上で競うこともある。２０１９年に同国で行われた世界大会には、欧州をはじめ、遠くはオーストラリアから１０００人以上が参加した。
　ミルニチェンコさんは、２０年のジョスト経験があり、肋骨（ろっこつ）を何度か折った。
　ジョストは荒々しいスポーツだが、「男ならみんな思っているように、自分も剣を手に騎士のように戦いたい」とＡＦＰに語った。
　ミルニチェンコさんは趣味を生かして、鍛冶師として生計を立てていた。
　新型コロナウイルスの流行で各地の大会が中止になるまで、ミルニチェンコさんは多いときで１６人雇っていた。
　外国からも引き合いがあり、ＡＦＰが取材に訪れた際は中国向けの商品が出荷を待っていた。
　ただ、最近は、工房の職人たちの関心はウクライナにある。
　ミルニチェンコさんの友人で職人の一人、アンドリー・パリーさんは「祖国支援で自分の役割を果たすことができ、誇りに思う」と話した。
　ミルニチェンコさんは入隊を希望していた。訓練を受けたこともあるが、応募者が多過ぎたため断られたという。そこで、自分の専門分野を生かして貢献することにした。
　きっかけは、工房で作っているよろいの試験をしたいと友人が言い出したことだった。「射撃場に行ったら、うちのよろいでも銃弾を止められることが分かった」
　ミルニチェンコさんの作る防弾プレートは、鋼鉄の板と複数の素材をリベットで固定した後、灰色のテープで包んでいる。
　費用は、外国の顧客の寄付で賄った。最初の１０着ほどは、軍や警察にいる友人に配った。もう３０着ほどは、１着１５０ドル（約２万円）で売れた。
　パリーさんによると、実戦にも耐えた。知人がロシア軍の銃撃を受け、肋骨が折れたが、チョッキを着ていたため「生きている」という。
　ミルニチェンコさんは、金属板の在庫やコストの問題から、あと３０着ほどしか作れないと話す。そうなったら、ナイフやなたを作る予定だ。
　ザポリージャでは先週、初めて住宅が爆撃された。ロシア軍は近くまで迫っている。市内でも、爆発音が聞こえる場所が出てきている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/05/06-15:36）

Ukrainian armour-maker Vadim Mirnichenko used to specialise in swords and breastplates for medieval jousting competitions -- but after Russia invaded his homeland, he turned his passion for historical weaponry to the modern day.
The small, dark workshop of the medieval combat enthusiast and self-taught blacksmith is full of swords and blades at various stages of manufacture, and designs for different pieces of armour.
A mannequin sporting metal shoulder plates stands forgotten in the corner as the craftsmen switch their attention to bullet-proof plates that can be fitted into fighters' vests.
Mirnichenko, an imposing figure with a shaven head, has 20 years of medieval combat tournament experience, with several broken ribs to show for it.
It's a brutal sport, the 39-year-old tells AFP, but like every man, I want to hold a sword in my hand, and to fight like a knight.
Medieval combat is a discipline that ranks as sport in Ukraine, which hosted the 2019 world championships just 100 kilometres (60 miles) or so from Kyiv.
More than a thousand competitors from across Europe, and even as far away as Australia, arrived to prove themselves in jousts on horseback and on foot.
And Mirnichenko earned enough to make a living out of his hobby.
- International clientele -
Before the coronavirus pandemic shut down tournaments, he employed up to 16 people in his workshop in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia.
He even counted international customers among his clientele -- when AFP visited the workshop, a shipment of metal plates was being readied to be expedited to China.
Nowadays, though, the workers' focus is much closer to home.
I am very proud that we are doing our part to help our country, says his friend and fellow craftsman, Andriy Paliy.
Mirnichenko says that, despite his tactical training, he was turned down by the Ukrainian army, so he decided to use his expertise in metalwork to help the war effort.
One day, a friend and I decided to test our work -- our swords and our scythes, he says.
So we went to a shooting range and it turned out that our armour could stop the ammunition.
To make the protective gear, Mirnichenko and his team rivet steel plates together over different layers of foam, before covering them with a thick band of grey tape.
The first dozen, financed by donations from overseas clients, were given to friends in the army, police and defence forces. Around 30 others were sold at cost for $150 (140 euros) each.
They have been tested in the field, too, says Paliy, a similarly striking figure with his handlebar moustache and a long ponytail on one side of his head.
An acquaintance was wearing one of the plates when he found himself under Russian fire, and thanks to that he is alive, except for a possible broken rib, Paliy says.
Mirnichenko says his business -- which still does not have a name -- should be able to produce around 30 more vests, before a lack of metal and cost constraints force them to turn to making knives and machetes.
- Improving the design -
But that has not stopped him trying to improve his design.
On Sunday, Mirnichenko and Paliy were at the shooting range again to test two new prototypes comprising three finer plates rather than just two -- but this time some of the bullets pierced through.
We know now that that wasn't a good idea, says Mirnichenko, unfazed.
Over the last week, the first houses were bombed in Zaporizhzhia, now less than an hour from the front line of the fighting.
Bombing can now be heard in certain areas in the city.
Even though the Russian forces have apparently turned their attention to Ukraine's south, Mirnichenko has not yet evacuated his family.
Pinned up in the grimy workshop next to the armour designs are a child's drawings -- a blue dinosaur, multi-coloured flowers and butterflies.
Mirnichenko said he is determined to keep his family safe.
No matter what happens to me, he says.