Olympic star shooter joins Ukraine army, says Russian forces 'won't have a chance'

Kristina Dmitrenko had won gold in the biathlon at the 2016 Youth Olympic Games - a sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. (Image credit: @waltergianno/Twitter)

Kristina Dmitrenko is a champion shooter with an Olympic gold to her name. Now, however, she intends to use her skills to protect her homeland from invading Russian forces.

"I shoot well, so the invaders won’t have a chance," Dmitrenko told the Daily Mail. The 22-year-old had won gold in the biathlon at the 2016 Youth Olympic Games - a sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting.

In February, she had been in the Carpathian mountains in the west of Ukraine where she was preparing for an international competition with the junior national team. But, everything changed for her after President of Russia Vladimir Putin announced the "military operation" on Ukraine.

"I never thought in my life it would be like this. No one can imagine this," she told the Daily Mail. "Friends from Chernihiv and Kyiv sent pictures of the horror they had to endure."

Dmitrenko, who has joined the Ukrainian National Guard to protect her country, is confident of defeating Russians.

"I have no fear of the enemy," she said. "Even if I temporarily replace my biathlon rifle with a machine gun, whatever weapon is in my hands, I will stand to the end. Victory will surely be ours."

Meanwhile, Russia has warned that the decision by Finland and Sweden to join the western NATO military alliance is a "grave mistake with far-reaching consequences".

"They should have no illusions that we will just put up with this," Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters.

Finland has officially announced its intention to join NATO and Sweden's ruling Social Democratic Party says it too wants to join, a seismic decision that would end the two countries' decades-long policy of non-alignment.