Ex-Miss Ukraine takes up arms to fight off Russian army

New Delhi, Feb 27 (IANS) Kyiv has survived another 'brutal' night of shelling as Ukrainian forces prevented Russian troops from taking the city for the fourth day, Daily Mail reported.

Volunteers, among them the former Miss Ukraine Anastasiia Lenna, have taken up arms to fight off "Russian President Vladimir Putin's army", with "long queues" of citizens waiting to be issued weapons at recruitment centres in Kyiv, the report said.

Lenna, who won the Miss Ukraine competition in 2015, posted an image of herself on Instagram as she announced she had joined the country's resistance against Russian troops, Daily Mail reported.

Lenna, who usually works as a public relations manager in Turkey, posted the image alongside two hashtags - stand with Ukraine and hands off Ukraine.

It is not the first time she has been pictured with a gun and previous posts appear to show her training with weapons in wooded arenas and indoor training grounds, the report said.

She joins hundreds of volunteers, among them a man with a prosthetic leg and a young couple who brought forward their wedding from May to tie the knot before joining the civil defence force the next day, Daily Mail reported.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said "military, law enforcement and territorial defence" forces were continuing to "detect and neutralise saboteurs".

He said on his Telegram channel today nine people in the city had been "lost or killed" - including one child.