ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — You could call Robert Marino a renaissance man.
The St. Petersburg man is not only a firearms instructor, he’s a finance professor, speaks several languages and he’s also a fugitive recovery agent; commonly known as a bounty hunter.
What You Need To Know
- Robert Marino used his law enforcement and teaching background to teach self-defense in Ukraine
- He spent nine days there working with civilians
- He’s raising money for volunteers with saveUA.org and is planning to return
- Live Updates: Biden announces $1B in new aid for Ukraine, new refugee program, bans Russian ships from U.S. ports
All skills he recently put to use in Ukraine.
“I was sitting on my couch. I have a lot of Ukrainian friends, been there a bunch of times, and I couldn’t take not being able to do something,” Marino said.
Marino connected with a Catholic church in Ukraine and saw that many civilians needed help defending themselves from the Russian attack.
“Without any training, they’re just getting slaughtered. They need to defend themselves,” Marino said.
He packed up and paid his own way to get into Ukraine, taking only what he could carry on his back.
He spent nine days in a city in western Ukraine called Lviv.
Going to different villages in the area, he demonstrated firearms, helped set up checkpoints and showed different survival tactics.
“Flashlight in my left hand,” Marino said, showing a picture from Ukraine of his demonstrations. “At night, hold the flashlight in your non-dominant hand. Keep your right hand on your weapon.”
He also experienced first-hand the terror many civilians face, like hearing air raid warnings, with most of them forced to defend themselves for the first time in their life.
“They have shotguns and they’re used to hunting rabbits and birds. And they don’t know how to shoot people, which is a different technique,” Marino said.
That was his main mission: To teach self-defense, not attack.
But he feels even just being there, it helped many civilians feel like they had a fighting chance.
“They were just so happy and motivated and inspired that someone, especially from America, has come there to help them. And train them. I think it was good for morale,” Marino said.
He’s now also raising money for volunteer and aid efforts he saw there and is even preparing to go back again. You can donate and learn more at his site.
Marino also advises anyone else considering to go to Ukraine, that they should have some sort of connection like he did, otherwise they might not be able to help out as effectively.