Ukrainian pensioners and children among citizens given firearm training in far-right military exercise

Watch: Valentyna Konstantynovska, 79, says she wants to defend her home amid threat of invasion

A Ukrainian far-right organisation has begun training children and pensioners in military combat as Russia pushes Europe to the brink of conflict over fears of an invasion.

With about 130,000 Russian troops gathering on the Ukrainian border, far-right group Right Sector have held open training sessions for anyone who wished to attend.

They have been teaching ordinary citizens how to load and fire a gun, with their students including young children and elderly people.

Among them, in the city of Mariupol, was 79-year-old Valentyna Konstantynovska, who was filmed clutching an AK-47 in a training session.

The great-grandmother said she is ready to “defend my home” if Russia does decide to invade.

Read more: Boris Johnson warns Russia is on the 'edge of precipice' over Ukrainian invasion

She told local media: "I am ready to shoot. If something happens I will defend my home, my city, my children.

“I will do this because I think I’m ready for it. I don’t want to lose my country, my city.”

Images in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev show a nation fearful on the brink of a war, with many thinking they may need to defend their country against a potential invasion.

Some drills were carried out with fake guns, while hand to hand combat sessions were held.

Tensions are growing by the day on the border, and UK nationals within Ukraine being urged to flee before the situation makes it impossible.

Read more: Europe must 'prepare for the worst' on fears of Russian invasion, says Nato

Russian president Vladimir Putin has stationed his soldiers along the border, as well as thousands more in the Black Sea, as he considers Russia's next step.

On Monday, British defence minister James Heappey said the continent of Europe is closer to war than it has been for the past 70 years and warned an attack could happen with "no notice".

He said: “Russia has concentrated artillery missile systems and combat air in the area.

"And, perhaps more ominously, although it grabs less headlines, all of the combat enablers, the logistics, the fuel, the medical supplies, the bridging assets, are all also now in place.

“So, the reason that the travel advice changed on Friday and the urgency of the messaging since is that the attack could effectively now happen with no notice.”

The UK has sent 1,000 additional troops to Poland to stand ready in the event of any crisis.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK also backtracked on a suggestion the country could consider dropping its ambition to join Nato to avoid war.

Vadym Prystaiko told BBC Radio 5 Live on Sunday night that the country, which he said was being threatened and blackmailed, would consider “serious concessions” including removing the goal of joining the Nato alliance from the Ukrainian constitution.

But on Monday he told BBC Breakfast: “We are not a member of Nato right now and to avoid war we are ready for many concessions and that is what we are doing in our conversations with Russia.

“But it has nothing to do with Nato, which is enshrined in the constitution.”

Moscow had suggested that Ukraine abandoning its Nato ambitions would address one of its main concerns.

Despite concerns about the potential futility of diplomacy – expressed by UK defence secretary Ben Wallace in his suggestion there was a “whiff of Munich in the air from some in the West” – Ukraine and Nato allies continued to seek a resolution through talks.