After February 24, life for Ukrainians became extremely unpredictable and non-standard, because new realities changed the usual formats. Thus, from the first days of the war, the coffee shop in the Student Canteen turned into an improvised shooting range, where experienced military personnel and qualified instructors on a volunteer basis teach those willing to shoot and handle weapons.
In the hall, where just recently students had lunch between classes and talked with friends, today you can hear the clicking of firearms – in short, since the beginning of the war, fighting spirit and excitement have reigned here. The training helps even beginners to practice marksmanship, master first aid skills and the basics of small-unit tactics. Andrii Dobrovlianskyi, Head of the Security Service, Lviv Polytechnic, and Ihor Chernyhevych, a leading specialist in sanitary safety of Lviv Polytechnic, are old colleagues who fought side by side in Shyrokyne in a volunteer battalion, and now they have begun to pass on their experience to Polytechnicians and others.
«When the full-scale invasion began, we wanted to help in any way we could. And the first thing that came to mind is that we can pass on our military experience. Then we addressed Roman Korzh, and he allocated this room for us. It is very valuable for its size and construction elements, you can practice many situations and exercises here. Indoor work is quite complicated, and it is necessary to explain it to people on specific examples», says Ihor Chernyhevych.
Even during our conversation, training does not stop for a minute: in the background, the chief instructor tells something to his subordinates and students, professor of Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University polishes up his skills on the models of weapons made by Polytechnicians. Specialists of the Institute of Mechanical Engineering and Transport helped make laser firearms, and the interactive target was created at the Department of Photonics.
Professional teachers are also involved in training. One of them is Andrii Hrechaniuk, senior lecturer of tactics at the Lviv State University of Internal Affairs. He has 30 years of teaching in military structures and invaluable experience that has come in handy not only for students, but also for instructors.
The qualifications of the instructors are proven by the fact that most of their «graduates» are now at the front and are already using the acquired skills in real combat. So, if you want to improve your weapon skills or just learn to shoot from scratch, experienced volunteer instructors are ready to share their experience with you.
