Ukrainians with ties to Russia like Olha Tverdokhlibova didn’t embrace the invasion, despite what Putin might have expected. Olha Tverdokhlibova is the kind of Ukrainian who Vladimir Putin counted on to side with Russia. A decorated Red Army veteran who fought the Nazis in World War II, she was indifferent to Ukraine’s independence when the Soviet Union broke up in 1991. But after the Russians invaded in February, she called the Ukrainian enlistment office here and offered her sharpshooting skills. The recruiter sounded enthusiastic, Ms. Tverdokhlibova recalled, until she revealed her age: 98. Ms. Tverdokhlibova has long been a familiar face locally and on national TV for her tales of wartime derring-do, when she says she served as a scout behind Nazi German lines and fought her way to Berlin. Now, she has a new message for her public appearances: that Ukraine’s war for survival against the Russians feels like the one the nations fought side by side against the Nazis. She recorded an appeal to Russian women not to send their sons and husbands to war. She gave a pep talk in a uniform, brimming with medals, to new Ukrainian recruits, telling how she lost her father and brother in World War II but that the Nazis were beaten in the end.
via wsj: She Was a Soldier in the Red Army. Now She’s a Torch-Bearer for Ukraine