Civilian Vehicle Modifications To Face Russian Soldiers, Lviv Residents: Victory Depends On Us

JAKARTA - Strawberry-scented air freshener hangs from the newest Ukrainian military vehicle to fight the Russian invasion.

In a welding workshop just a few hundred meters from Russia's latest air raid on the western city of Lviv, volunteer workers added armor plates to a donated pickup truck, so other volunteers could drive it to the front lines.

"We have to keep working because victory depends on us," said Ostap Datsenko, owner of a welding shop as quoted by Euronews March 28.

He was standing in the truck, rushing to finish his work before sunset Saturday when he heard a sound, looked up and saw something whizzing through the air.

"It was quite big, but I've never seen a rocket before," he said of the Russian missiles fired at the city. "Then I heard a huge explosion," he continued.

The explosion sent him rolling over in the back of the vehicle. After getting up, he joined other volunteers in the garage's makeshift bunker at the oil pit.

The following day, he returned to work doing the finishing touches on the truck before being taken Monday to Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, along with three other vehicles.

Camouflage paint was installed and workers welded bars to the back to help support the machine gun.

The Ukrainian military has put up a fight against the Russian invasion that has taken some observers by surprise. One of the weapons is a parallel army of volunteers busy raising funds and supplies, from bulletproof vests to cigarettes. While others make military connections.

Artem Pastushyna, a 27-year-old welding engineer with metal nuts in his earlobe, is welding steel plates to the front of the truck "to protect it from bullets and shrapnel."

Only a small number of vehicles have been adapted to this kind of armor and camouflage. According to him, this is the first vehicle to be adapted by a welding workshop, he said, adding that he hopes to do more.

Four rockets hit the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Saturday, local officials said, in the most significant attack on the city since the start of the war with Russia.

Lviv, just 60 kilometers (40 miles) from the Polish border, has so far escaped heavy bombardment and fighting, which has devastated several Ukrainian cities closer to Russia, since Moscow launched its invasion on February 24.

Governor Maksym Kozytskyy said five people were injured after two rockets hit a fuel depot, while two others later hit a military factory. Earlier, he reported a powerful explosion in the eastern outskirts of Lviv from the attack.

"Stay in the shelter! Don't go out into the street!," he warned after the first attack.

The rockets fell as US President Joseph Biden, speaking in Warsaw during a visit to Poland, condemned Russia's aggression and assured Ukraine of the United States' unwavering support.