She lives with her husband, dog, cat and rabbit. The bubbly 69-year-old looked surprised as we showed pictures of her statuette made in her image. She asked, "Am I really that old? It's like a stranger is staring at me!" But her story is very different from the image that the Russian media has been portraying. She does not support war. "How could I possibly support our own people to die? My grandchildren and great-grandchildren were forced to go to Poland. We live in fear and terror," she said. So why did Anna greet the Russian soldiers with the Soviet flag? She said she was misunderstood.
She claimed she confused two Ukrainian soldiers who provided her with food with Russian soldiers. "I'm glad the Russians will come, but not with us," she said. "I'm glad we can be united again." Images used in Russian propaganda Photo Credit: BBC News The Russian propaganda machine produced pictures of various Ukrainian red-flag grandmothers, which old picture restoration were widely disseminated in the media. Anna did not add any political subtext to her actions. The red flag, she said, was not the flag of the Soviet Union, not the flag of Russia, but "the flag of love and happiness for every family, every city, every republic. Not bloodshed. Whoever says otherwise is wrong." "
As Ana said these words, the continuous roar of artillery fire and fighting could be heard nearby. She didn't show a frightened look once, she was used to all this. She said: "If I could talk to Vladimir Putin, I would say to him, you made a mistake. We working people of Ukraine, what have we done to deserve this crime? The most culpable." But Anna, from the Soviet era, was reluctant to publicly criticize the Russian leader. "Putin is the president. A tsar, a king, an emperor," she said. Statue of Babushaka Z Photo Credit: BBC News A sculpture was also erected in Mariupol, which was occupied by Russian troops.