Popular TV presenter tells viewers he’s joining Ukrainian army on air | World News

This is the moment a popular Ukrainian TV presenter ended his latest show by telling viewers he will be swapping a microphone for a machine gun and joining the army.

Kyiv is desperately seeking to replenish its frontline as the fight to repel Russia’s full-scale invasion nears its third year.

At the end of his news programme Window and Facts, Orest Drymalovsky, 29, told ICTV viewers: ‘That’s all for now. And for me it’s a personal finish today. This was my last broadcast before I am mobilised to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.’

He later said in an interview on his decision that it was the duty of military age men to sign up, saying: ‘There is no other way to victory.’

Ukraine is seeking to reform its mobilisation laws to enable more people to be called up to the army.

Mr Drymalovsky said: ‘We have no right to enjoy a peaceful life while the best give theirs for it.

‘Believe in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, help the Armed Forces. Stand up to the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.’

He revealed he had considered leaving the country to live in peace abroad, as hundreds of thousands of others had done.

But he went on: ‘I want to work in Ukraine, I want to create a family here and build my own business, I want my future children to live here. 

‘For all this to happen, the state must be preserved.  To save the state, you need to join the army when the state needs it. The logic is as simple as possible.’

He admitted he was scared, and said he had prepared for the call-up, taking a first aid course and fire training.

‘Is this enough? Of course not,’ he said. ‘I want to perceive mobilisation as a challenge. 

‘I will try to constantly improve my skills in order to be as effective as possible where I will be.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

MORE : ‘I’m a special forces medic — this is how troops fighting Putin stay alive’

MORE : Entire column of Russian armoured vehicles obliterated by drones

MORE : Paranoid Putin’s bodyguard has a briefcase that turns into a bulletproof shield

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.