By Margaryta Chornokondratenko and Yiming Woo

KYIV (Reuters) – A hairdresser by day and a “drone hunter” by evening, Oleksandr Shamshur, 41, is amongst tens of hundreds of volunteers serving to defend the skies over Ukraine in opposition to Russian assaults.

Because the Feb. 24 first anniversary of Russia’s invasion nears, Ukraine is turning into more and more adept at taking pictures down Russian missiles and drones fired at cities removed from the entrance traces, and Shamshur takes delight in his personal position.

Members of his territorial defence unit, together with a lawyer and a businessman, reply to air raid alerts in and across the capital Kyiv by looking for to down Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones with a restored World Struggle Two machine gun.

“I’m a really blissful particular person. Why? As a result of I’m defending my nation, I’m defending our Ukrainian folks,” Shamshur stated as he combed the capital’s moonlit skyline by means of a thermal digicam with a variety finder from his place on a rooftop.

Close by, a fellow fighter was adjusting the inexperienced barrels of the Soviet-made “Maxim” machine gun.

“However on the identical time I can come to the wonder salon and work with the folks, do the work I do know, lower hair and discuss to purchasers,” stated Shamshur.

He stated it by no means occurred to him as a civilian to “run away and conceal someplace” when tens of hundreds of Russian armoured forces stormed right into a surprised Ukraine final winter and commenced bombarding Kyiv and different cities.

“With the enemy on the doorstep, I needed to do one thing, I needed to act in defence,” he stated.

Through the evening of Dec. 29-30, Shamshur stated, his rooftop unit shot down two drones over Kyiv. His group have additionally handed on the abilities they’ve discovered to different models.

Shamshur sports activities a number of badges on his camouflage uniform, together with one, “Drone Hunters”, in English, and one other in Ukrainian studying “Ronin” – a feudal Japanese warrior – that he has adopted as his nom-de-guerre.

When Russia invaded, Shamshur – a military reservist earlier than the warfare – discovered that his navy base had already been destroyed by Russian shelling so he joined territorial defences, initially delivering meals to civilians and serving to evacuate folks.

At work in his salon, nonetheless carrying navy khaki as he styled a shopper’s hair, he stated he tries to not discuss to his purchasers concerning the warfare, calling it “darkish” in distinction to the “gentle” within the peaceable a part of his life.