How a Ukrainian Pensioner Became a Pro-War Symbol in Russia

"An elderly Ukrainian woman has become a symbol of support for Russia's invasion of
Ukraine after the pensioner mistakenly greeted Ukrainian soldiers with a Soviet banner.

Her viral popularity comes in the run-up to Russia’s May 9 holiday Victory Day.

Although the soldiers wore Ukrainian flags on their uniform sleeves, the pensioner mistook them for Russian troops, telling the soldiers that she and her husband had “waited, prayed for them, for Putin and all the people.” 

The soldiers took the banner from the elderly woman as they began to hand her food. But when the pensioner saw that the troops had placed the flag on the ground and stamped it into the mud, she gave the food back. " MT