By the time the Russians invaded, 43-year-old Mufti Said Ismahilov — one of the Muslim spiritual leaders of Ukraine — had already resolved that he would step aside from his religious duties to fight for his country.
At the end of last year, as warnings of an imminent attack grew louder, Ismahilov began training with a local territorial defense battalion. By then he had served as a mufti for thirteen years.
