Sviatoslav Yurash, a Ukrainian MP and a former advisor to the country’s president Volodymyr Zelensky, told the BBC that he had “an AK-47 in front of [him],” ready to fight the Russian army.
“We are not going to just stand idly by as Russia does as it wants all across its borders,” he added.
Speaking to Nick Robinson on Friday morning for BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the Ukraine’s youngest MP called Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions “a full scale invasion” which came with the intent to "destroy the Ukrainian state and to take it over.”
He said: “For everything that we are doing nothing seems to be enough when fighting one of the biggest armies in the world.”
The 26-year-old went on to call for help and support from the world, saying that any help to “push Russia even further” would be “very much welcome”.
When asked what he would do if Ukraine’s military cannot win a battle with Russian forces over Kyiv, Mr Yurash responded: “That’s exactly why I’m looking at my AK-47 in front of me.”
He continued: “We are giving everyone who wants to help Ukraine fight a chance to do that, we are arming people who will be taking that fight to the Russians in every way.
“We are the biggest nation in Europe, a nation of 40 million people, and we are not going to just stand idly by as Russia does as it wants all across its borders.
“We will fight with everything we have and with all the support the world can provide us."
When asked whether or not he expected to use the AK-47 that he had previously mentioned, the MP said that although he only had a “rudimentary knowledge” of the weapon, “from everyone I know who has fought in the war in the east in the last eight years, these are skills you pick up very fast when you’re fighting for your life.
“We need your support, we need your help because Russia is violating every international law in existence and we need to win this fight, not just for us but for international law to be sustained,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, citizens in Ukraine have been called on to fight against the Russian offensive, with guns being offered by President Zelensky to those ready to defend the country from Russian forces.
Kyiv citizens have also been urged to make their own molotov cocktails - petrol bombs - to help defende the capital.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Defence Force has issued a call for civilian recruits as Russia forces approach the capital Kyiv.
