'There was blood everywhere as I patched up wounded kids'

Bravery of 'Batgirl' Polina, 19, in war zone

- JOHN MARONE

POLINA is a child of war - only eight years old when Russia first attacked her country in 2014, and 16 when Moscow launched its invasion in 2022.

Now aged 19, she coordinates volunteer relief efforts at the sites of missile strikes in and around the capital Kyiv, while studying to be an officer at a military college.

While she's waiting to earn her commission in a communications battalion, Polina, together with hundreds of other volunteers who comprise an organisation called The Bats of Kyiv, stands ready to respond to the next Russian drone or missile assault.

They call themselves Kyiv Bats "because we work in Kyiv day and night and also because we are black (with soot)".