On Sunday, former kindergarten teacher Natalia Grabalchuk shot down a Russian cruise missile heading for a critical infrastructure facility in Ukraine’s Rivne region in her first combat launch.
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Former kindergarten teacher watches as Russian missile is shot down
A former kindergarten teacher has received an award from Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov for shooting down a Russian missile in its first combat launch.
Natalia Grabalchuk, a Ukrainian soldier who completed a five-month training course before the mission, accurately fires the anti-missile device “Igla” at a Russian cruiser that was heading towards critical infrastructure facilities in the Rivne region of Ukraine. shot down a missile.
The mission was captured on video and shared by the Ukrainian Air Force on Sunday.
The video shows Grabarchuk operating the anti-aircraft missile and placing the device on his shoulder before launching. Smoke is seen rising and then a loud explosion is heard. Natalia knelt as her colleagues congratulated her.
“Well done!” her colleague said in the video. “I got it, Natalia, I got it!”
Following Sunday’s successful mission, Grabalchuk said he was “very happy” that the Russian missile had hit, and that he had “abandoned all emotion and excitement” during the mission. “After the battle ended, I let my emotions run wild,” she said.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Umerov called former kindergarten teachers and colleagues Olga Maximenko and Valentina Steblevts “incredible defenders” and “emblems of professionalism and courage.” , showed photos of soldiers receiving awards.
The post thanked the soldiers for their service and said the mission and the corresponding video “was an emotional moment for all of us.”
