Last week the Ukrainian government announced the formation of the National Guard, after it was revealed that the army only had 6,000 combat ready troops compared to Russia’s 200,000. The volunteer force will bolster the under-strength military and protect Ukraine’s borders after Crimea having been effectively annexed and Russian forces now building up along Ukraine’s eastern border.

The first to answer the call were the self defense groups who fought on the barricades during last month’s revolution. So we headed down to the Maidan to hopefully tag along with them to the training grounds outside of Kiev for their induction day.