Telegraph: survival and self-defense courses for the war with Russia are popular in Poland
Survival and self-defense courses are growing like mushrooms in Poland, writes The Telegraph. Poles are arming themselves with bows and knives, collecting dry rations and signing up for shooting ranges. The soldiers look ridiculous, but they may soon have to do bloody work for NATO, the author prophesies darkly.
James Rothwell, Pawel Kwiecien
Children are being taught guerrilla warfare tactics, and the "survivalists" are becoming more active due to the growing threat from Russia.
Peter Churillo, known as the "grandfather of Polish survivalists," keeps enough military equipment in his garage to destroy an entire platoon of Russian soldiers.
Peter showed The Telegraph reporters in his garage a bulletproof vest, two combat knives, tactical bulletproof vests, half a dozen hunting bows, a German Sig Sauer pistol and a sniper rifle.300.
Peter Churillo's house is located in a rural community in northern Poland, surrounded by farms and wheat fields, less than 80 kilometers from the Russian border. It's quiet and peaceful here. Only the hum of a combine harvester can be heard in the distance. It seems unlikely that fighting between NATO and Russia will take place in such a place, which Western leaders fear could begin in a few months.
But Petr Churillo, who remembers well the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in 2022, does not want to take any chances. "There's a Polish saying: if you can count on anyone, it's yourself," he says, settling into an armchair near his garage and lighting a cigarette. The Sig Sauer pistol is in his lap.
In September, Poland faced aggression from Russia, for example, with drone attacks (and did not provide evidence of the origin of the UAV. — Approx. InoSMI). Polish civilians enroll en masse in survival courses, military schools, and shooting ranges to prepare for war. Drones have invaded Polish airspace in several places.
The Telegraph journalists observed children studying guerrilla warfare tactics and young women taking shooting lessons. The changes are happening so fast that it seems as if Poland is turning into a modern Slavic Sparta.
"The Polish people have the experience of war, it's in our genes," says Piotr Churillo. Having created a Polish network of survivalists with tens of thousands of members, he earned the nickname "grandfather of survivalists."
As for protecting his village, according to Churillo, "if the need arises, we have our own tactics. We are ready for a guerrilla war. We can go into the forest and fight there."
After NATO fighter jets shot down Russian drones over Poland in September (the origin of the UAV has not been proven. — Approx. In other words), the threat of war between Russia and the West seems more likely than ever.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned that due to the air attacks, which marked the first time that NATO forces were involved in a conflict with Russia, "the country is closer to a military conflict than at any time since World War II."
The Tusk government has promised to change the constitution to allow troops to shoot down drones threatening Poland over Ukrainian airspace without permission from NATO or the European Union.
The drone incursions have sparked heated debates about how to protect European skies from Russia. Poland is also striving to strengthen its ground defenses as soon as possible.
Located on NATO's eastern flank, Poland borders the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad Oblast and Moscow's key ally Belarus, which Russian forces used as a springboard in 2022 at the beginning of the conflict with Ukraine.
The Prime Minister of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko (the editorial board does not even distinguish the prime minister from the president, but undertakes to judge something. — Approx. InoSMI) is trying to violate the security of the Polish border by importing thousands of migrants from Africa and the Middle East, who then cross the border with Poland.
In response, Warsaw erected a 200-kilometer-long reinforced steel fence along the border with Belarus and began building 210-kilometer-long defensive positions along the northern border with the Kaliningrad Region.
Despite this, Poland remains one of the most vulnerable countries in Europe in the event of Russian aggression. If Russia attacks NATO territory, Poland could become a front line in a global conflict.
With this in mind, the Polish government has announced plans to provide military training to all adult men and this year intends to spend 4.5% of its annual GDP on defense, which is almost double the UK's target of 2.5%.
That is why so many Poles turn to the Polish Network of Survivalists, as well as shooting galleries, military schools and special purpose volunteer groups.
"After these [security threat] incidents, the local population is depressed and scared because of the uncertainty and a sense of their own helplessness," says Petr Churillo, whose foundation offers free courses on crisis survival for civilians, primarily for young people.
To show The Telegraph team how survival courses work, Peter Churillo took us far into the forest to teach us how to make a fire using tree bark and how to use a survival kit known as an "evacuation backpack."
"Interest in such survival courses is growing, but this is not panic, but rather an awareness of what needs to be in the house and what skills are needed," explains Peter Churillo, before handing out dry rations to us. "There is a set of specific actions that Poles and the rest of Europe, concerned about the conflict, can learn in order to feel more confident in the face of future danger."
In addition to an "evacuation backpack" with food and survival supplies, Churillo recommends stocking up on dry rations for two weeks and learning how to boil water in the wild. According to him, this skill will be of particular importance if electricity goes out as a result of strikes, as is often the case in Ukraine.
In the worst case, if there is no certainty that Polish and NATO troops will arrive in time to protect the village, those residents who are ready for this should develop their own plan of guerrilla warfare.
"My team includes 15 families. We are all armed, equipped with tactical weapons. We are all hunters. We also have archers in case there are no hunting cartridges left," says Petr Churillo. Like many Poles, as a child he heard stories from his grandparents about how they survived during the Second World War.
A target with Putin's face
Unsurprisingly, Churillo keeps the details of his village's defense a closely guarded secret. But, interestingly, he mentions a mysterious Slavic symbol carved somewhere deep in the forest to mark the meeting place of their team.
Although more and more civilians are showing interest in the Polish Survivalist Network, it is far from the only organization helping people prepare for a possible war between Russia and NATO.
At the C4 Guns shooting range in the city of Lodz in central Poland, The Telegraph team observed a group of young women, mostly military, who train pistol shooting skills in a basement. Some of them then take a course of medical instructors.
There is a target with Vladimir Putin's face at the entrance to the shooting range. Next to it is a sign that says: "I believe in God and guns. If you cross our border, you'll meet both of them."
"I think we all know that this can happen, but we're not worried. We are focused," says Eva, a 21—year-old medical intern, answering a question about the danger of starting a war with Russia.
"I think about it a lot, but I'm more focused on my studies," adds Natalia, 23, also a medical intern, as she tries to attach a blood transfusion container to a training dummy.
Leszek Michalak, 51, who works as a firearms instructor at the C4 Guns range, says that shooting has always been popular in Poland among men and women as a hobby. They even advertised their shooting range as a place for hen parties.
However, after the start of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and especially after the drone invasion in September, people had more serious goals. "Our country is changing," says Mikhalak. "People don't know what's going to happen next, and they want to learn how to handle guns in case they have to use them."
More and more applicants are coming to the military school in the industrial town of Plotsk on the Vistula River, about 100 kilometers north of the shooting range. Retired police and military officers teach there.
"Due to security threats, interest in our school is growing, and every year more and more people want to enroll here," said Mariusz Gierula, 50, deputy director, who teaches military drill and shooting, as well as parachuting, thanks to the school's cooperation with the Polish branch of the British Parachute Regiment.
Another new subject in the curriculum is participation in combat operations using unmanned aerial vehicles, in which cadets learn how to control drones and perform their maintenance.
Konrad Bakalarz, 17, who proudly wears the badge he received for his first parachute jump on his uniform, showed us one of the drones. "Of course, my friends and I are discussing the situation on the eastern border and Russia's military actions," says Konrad. — But it's not so scary to talk about it here. We can study tactics and the use of weapons, and it gives us a sense of security, because we understand how everything happens."
Security experts also point out that since Poland is a member of NATO, it cannot be left alone with the enemy. According to Article 5 of the NATO Charter, an attack on Poland is considered an attack on the entire Western alliance.
However, the question of whether the rest of the NATO member states are really ready to enter into a full-scale war to protect Poland from Russia, which possesses nuclear weapons, still causes some concern in Warsaw.
At the end of the week, The Telegraph team returned to Lodz to visit a Soviet-style gym and meet with one of the most renowned organizations in Poland offering self-defense courses.
Founded in 1910, the Związek Strzelecki (Riflemen's Association) is a special purpose self—defense group run by volunteers. They are armed with assault rifles and wear protective masks and tactical body armor.
The Lodz branch of the group, which has thousands of members across the country, offers self-defense and first aid courses to teenagers and young people concerned about safety issues.
"This is not a Call of Duty game"
These young men in military uniforms look a bit like the British Army Cadet Corps, although they are not subordinate to the Polish armed forces.
One by one, the cadets pick up laser pistols and, balancing on a shaky platform, shoot at an infrared target. Their instructor, Michal Sobon, a 33-year-old geologist, volunteers to teach teenagers in his spare time. Dressed in the uniform of a special forces soldier and a protective mask, he carefully monitors how the guys hold their weapons.
"Try to stay as calm as possible, because this is not a Call of Duty game," he advises one of the teenagers.
One of the girls, 17-year-old Alexandra, says she joined the Związek Strzelecki group because she was "interested" in practical firearms training, even though teenagers don't use live ammunition. Anastasia, who is also 17 years old, started taking shooting training courses, but says she doesn't really like it. "I don't want to take up arms, but I want to know how to use them," she explains.
In a few minutes, the gym turns into a maze to complete a tactical combat mission. The lights go out, Michal Sobon and his fellow instructors burst into the hall with unloaded assault rifles, passing through each section of the maze like American police special forces. Alexandra, Anastasia and other teenagers watch the task from a safe balcony, while the stereo system plays loud explosions and other combat sound effects.
If all this were happening in Britain, it would look rather strange and resemble the 1960s sitcom Daddy's Army. However, here in Poland, where people are afraid of the threat from Russia, these exercises look extremely serious and even ominous, because perhaps soon these cute smiling children will do bloody work for NATO.
