A former Miss Ukraine “has taken up arms” to fight against the Russian invasion and says “anyone crossing the border will be killed”.
Anastasia Lenna, Ukraine’s 2015 representative in the Miss Grand International beauty contest, shared a post on social media showing herself armed up and ready to defend her home.
“Everyone who crosses the Ukrainian border with the intent to invade will be killed!” she said in an Instagram story on Saturday, accompanied by a photo of armed soldiers blocking a roadway.
She also posted a photo to her 97,000 followers showing soldiers walking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whom she called a “a true and strong leader.”
On February 21, 2022, the Russian president recognised two breakaway areas of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent.
And after months of military build-up on the border with Ukraine, Putin then ordered his forces to enter the Donbas region to “perform peacekeeping functions”, which was seen as the beginning of an invasion.
By February, 25, 2022, it was reported that Russian troops had entered into Ukraine at points along its eastern, southern and northern borders.
Since Putin waged war on Ukraine, the former beauty queen has been using her platform to rally support for her country.
This included calling for western countries to cut Russian banks out of the Swift banking system.
Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (Swift) processes transactions worth trillions of dollars and is used around the world by more than 11,000 banks and financial institutions.
Yesterday, the EU, US and their allies have agreed to cut off a number of Russian banks from the international payment system, which Russia heavily relies on for its key oil and gas exports.
Anastasia has also called on fellow Ukrainians to remove all road signs to make it harder for invading troops to navigate through Ukraine.
A translation of her call to action reads: “Dismantling road signs on all roads of the country. The enemy has a pathetic connection, they don’t orientate the terrain. Let’s help them go straight to hell.
“The State Road Agency of Ukraine calls on all road organisations, territorial communities, local authorities to immediately start dismantling road signs nearby.”
The marketing and management graduate from Slavistik University in Kyiv has shared snaps of herself in military gear in wooded arenas and indoor training grounds over the past few years.
Now she appears to have swapped plastic pellets for lead bullets.
The former Miss Grand Ukraine has previously worked as a model and a public relations manager in Turkey. She also speaks five languages and worked as a translator.
