UKRAINE TEENS PREPARATIONS AGAINST RUSSIA

(The Quiver) : The tension and fear of war between Russia and Ukraine has left Ukraine civilians nights sleepless . Understanding the situation , Russia could attack anytime on Ukraine , the teenagers of the country decided to do something rather than sitting in fear.

The 15-year-old , Ukrainian teenager Mykhailo Anopa joined hand with other boys from disadvantaged families for digging trenches for soldiers serving on his country’s eastern front and facing off with Russian-backed separatists.

“When our father, the pastor, said there might be shelling, that Putin might attack, I started having nightmares, because that’s what I would think about before bed,” he said.

“We dug trenches to help Ukrainian soldiers. Now, we are reinforcing them. This has become our responsibility,” he said with pride.

Anopa belongs to a centre for children from broken homes overseen by Pentecostal pastor Gennadiy Mokhnenko. The 53-year-old has just returned to the Ukrainian front after a trip to the United States and is busy instructing his group of 40 or so boys about discipline and proper trench-digging techniques.

“Today, we are going to reinforce basements,” the pastor says, after leading a group prayer.”We will buy some more gas canisters, develop an evacuation plan. Each one of us has to prepare a small bag with clothes and documents,” he tells the group.

A week of much bigger naval manoeuvres involving more than a dozen Russian warships and nearly 20 other boats are setting nerves jangling in the Black Sea. Watching the setups civilians of Ukraine are preparing themselves to face the rival Russia.

Pastor Mokhnenko says boys such as Anopa are more cheerful when they feel like they are doing something constructive such as digging trenches.

“The children laugh and play a lot,” he says.

“But buried beneath that are huge fears. Years of their lives were spent watching the backs of soldiers. And out of their windows, all they see is the front.” This statement clearly shows the tough time through which civilians are passing through .