As Russia maintains the pressure, Ukraine trains citizen-soldiers for guerrilla warfare

They come in all shapes and sizes, from all generations and backgrounds.

They are medical interns, truck drivers, clerks and students. As members of Ukraine's newly reorganized territorial defence units, some of them could be called upon to do some of the toughest, most dangerous fighting in support of the country's special forces if Russia decides to invade.

The notion doesn't seem to trouble Elena, a 23-year-old studying for her medical degree. She's a recent recruit who, on a bitterly cold Saturday in a community outside of Kyiv, took her first lessons on handling an AK-47 assault rifle.

"I'm not worried. I hope everything will be OK," she told CBC News, offering only her first name. Asked what might happen if the worst-case scenario emerges, she said she doesn't "think about it."

Elena said her reasons for signing up were partly patriotic, partly practical — she wanted to prepare herself to defend her community.

"I hope a lot of people my age are concerned about the future of Ukraine," she told CBC News during a break in training with almost two dozen volunteers being taught basic weapons and infantry skills.

The ranks of Ukraine's reservists are expected eventually to include 10,000 officers and 120,000 volunteers. New legislation tasks them with protecting public buildings, local government authorities and infrastructure.

In peacetime, they're supposed to respond to natural and man-made disasters. In the event of war, they're also expected to guard against acts of sabotage and to participate in resistance groups if their region is overrun by the enemy.

Their instructors — long-time members of the territorial defence force who led the recent basic drills outside of Kyiv — received the same kind of advanced training.

I would hate to be a Russian truck driver in a convoy moving into Ukraine as these guys become more and more efficient.- Ben Hodges, former commander of the U.S. Army in Europe

"We are trained in guerrilla tactics," said Vladimir, one of the instructors (he also gave his first name only). "There is a small part of the law that [says] territorial defence may participate in such operations, but so far it is in the stage of building. Nobody knows how it is going to turn out."

He said he's already accepted the fact that he could be fighting a guerrilla war if the worst happens.

"It doesn't concern me," said Vladimir, who recently spent a year working in Canada. "I know where I am going. I knew where I was going. If it concerned me, I wouldn't be here now."

The training in guerrilla tactics is being delivered by members of the Ukrainian special forces, who themselves were trained by Canadian special forces.

Retired lieutenant-general Ben Hodges, the former commander of the U.S. Army in Europe, said that as the territorial formations become more organized, they'll add combat power to Ukraine's military.

"Russia has demonstrated it intends to use blunt force if it attacks," he told CBC News. "So mass still matters. Of course, you can't send thousands of people out with AK-47s and say, 'Do well.'"

Hodges, currently the Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies at the Center for European Policy Analysis, said turning reservists into guerrillas — or even threatening to do so — could have a powerful deterrent effect on Russia by raising the cost of an invasion.

"If it gets to that, there'll be a lot of people getting killed and wounded," he said. "I would hate to be a Russian truck driver in a convoy moving into Ukraine as these guys become more and more efficient."

The territorial defence units still have a long way to go, however. Only about 10 per cent of the territorial force recruits would be capable of conducting guerrilla-style operations right now.

The challenges facing new recruits are more basic, said Vladimir.

"Many of them don't know how to hold a gun. How to put it to the target. How to use it," he said. "So there are many things they need to learn."

All those involved in the exercise observed by CBC News carried assault rifles and were dressed in military-style camouflage. Some were even far enough along in their training to participate in a mock skirmish using blank cartridges. 

Some units are not well-equipped, however. Some have had to practice with wooden rifles, much as the Home Guard in Britain did when it trained to repel a planned invasion by Nazi Germany in the 1940s.

With new legislation recently passed by Ukraine's parliament, the part-time reserve units are rapidly becoming an important component in what a senior adviser to the commander of special forces described as plans for national resistance.

Denys Podanchuk — a civilian adviser to the commander of Ukraine's special forces, Maj.-Gen. Hryhoriy Halahan, as well as the commander of the territorial defence units, Gen. Yuriy Halushkin — said reservists would be used as guerrillas only under the supervision of the regular special forces.

"Territorial defence would, for sure, help special operation forces, would help members of the resistance do their work. And we put it in our law. It is a special point — special operation forces can ... use members of volunteer groups … in some operations of resistance," he said.

The Ukrainian government has been struggling to reform and reorganize the reserve formation for several years, ever since the Russian annexation of Crimea and the onset of the war in the eastern Donbas region.

"The situation was bad with territorial defence. So, we have to change it," said Podanchuk, who noted the legislation went through several drafts before being presented to Ukrainian lawmakers.

"They will defend their communities — really defend."