Kira Rudyk, a member of Ukrainian Parliament and leader of the Voice Party, described the difficulty of teaching children about the current Russian attacks on Ukraine.
“The most complicated thing is to explain to children what’s going on. So there is this little game that’s called the turtle game, to explain to them how to act during the attacks,” Rudyk told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Saturday. “So you tell them that you go down on your belly, you open up your mouth, you close your ears with your hands, and that’s how you pretend you’re a turtle. And we had to pretend that we are turtles quite a few times today.”
The game described by Rudyk is similar to duck-and-cover drills commonly practiced by U.S. students during the Cold War era. While stressing the need for more humanitarian aid, UNICEF said the attacks on Ukraine pose an “immediate and growing threat to the lives and well-being of the country’s 7.5 million children.”
Rudyk has spoken to several news outlets about attacks on Kyiv, including airstrikes, that have taken place since Russia invaded Ukraine on Thursday.
She’s also been active on social media, describing what it’s been like to learn to use a Kalashnikov rifle and prepare to fight Russian forces.
“Two days ago, before the war with Russia started, I wouldn’t ever imagine that I would have to bear arms or get a weapon,” Rudyk said in a video she sent to BBC’s “Newsnight.” “But right now, I did, and I have, and I will.”