Tributes have been paid to Olga Semidyanova, a 48-year-old combat medic and mother of 12, who was killed in a firefight with Russian troops near Donetsk. She served in the Ukrainian army since 2014 and held the honorary title 'Mother Heroine'. Her body has not yet been recovered due to ongoing fighting.
According to her daughter Julia, Semidyanova 'saved the soldiers to the last'. She was fatally shot in the stomach on March 3 on the border between Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. She had six biological children and adopted six more from a local orphanage.
Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's Interior Ministry, called her a 'national hero' who emphasised her desire to protect the country until the end. Social media users also paid tribute, describing her as a 'hero' and 'saint'.
The news comes as mourners in Starychi buried two soldiers killed in a Russian missile strike on a military base in Yavoriv on Sunday, which killed at least 35 people. Local deacon Taras Hlova said of the fallen: 'They died protecting us.'
