Last month, Valentyna Kostyantynovska heard the building drumbeat toward Russia's invasion of Ukraine and decided to join the defense forces. She figured that the only way her homeland stood a chance against such overwhelming force was if everyone chipped in.
And by everyone, she meant everyone.
Even someone such as herself, a 79-year-old from Mariupol, located along the Sea of Azov which is connected to the Black Sea.
“I cannot do much,” Kostyantynovska told Reuters. “I can help the wounded. …I know they will kill me.