"Just don't say, 'Look at that poor girl with an amputation' – fighter Ada."

At the beginning of September 2024, the pickup truck that Nastya and her comrade were using to reach their position ran over an anti-tank mine. Her left leg had to be amputated up to the middle of her calf, while doctors managed to piece together her right leg with pins and screws.

The first thing I said in the ICU was: please don’t write me off, I will definitely return to my unit. I really want to go back. I feel more comfortable at the front; I can’t picture myself in civilian life. Am I sitting somewhere in the rear, worrying about whether the websites are working properly, while my comrades are fighting? How does that even make sense?

In a Lviv hospital, where Nastya is undergoing another course of treatment, we discuss the war that erases the gender divide, sexism in the army, and relationships where camaraderie takes precedence over eroticism. We talk about hopes and fears, and what Nastya’s life might look like after her treatment, considering how much she used to love cross-country skiing, hiking in the Carpathians, and river rafting before the war...

Ada — the Battle Bird

At the front, Nastya chose the call sign Ada. It’s convenient and short. For her, the call sign is associated with many pleasant things, like the birds of the Ada genus found in South America, and drones — which are also birds, but combat ones. There’s also the asteroid Ada; for her, flying into space has been a cherished dream since childhood, captured in tattoos on her body.

The woman shows off blue-pink comets tattooed on her arms, racing from her elbow to her wrist. Her left arm is densely sprinkled with black “pebbles” from small debris. Somehow, they even got under her nails — doctors had to remove her nails to get them out. But over time, this metallic “poppy” will come out — she just needs to be patient...

“To the girls who are considering military service, I would say: take into account your knowledge, skills, and abilities, and choose a direction where you will be most effective. No one is born with military knowledge — it depends on the person whether they can and want to master it. It’s about the person, not their gender.

In the Constitution of Ukraine, it doesn’t say that only men are obliged to defend the country. It speaks about the duty of every citizen. Each gender has its own psychophysiological characteristics, but they can be used wisely. Women, for instance, are generally more careful and meticulous, and they have a higher level of discipline — such people are very much needed at the front,” says Ada.

When she sought to mobilize in 2022, she didn’t even consider working with drones; that field seemed too technical to her.

In paid military training courses, Ada learned the basics of military affairs, first aid, and how to shoot, while simultaneously sending out her resumes to military job sites and contacting specific military units. She hoped to be a rifleman or an assault soldier, but no one showed any interest!

On one of the websites, she met a soldier, whom she asked to review her resume — maybe there was something to correct. The man forwarded it to his unit. After that came the interviews and mobilization through the TCC regarding the battalion. So unexpectedly for herself, Ada began to fly drones.

“I did not romanticize war in any way. I understood that it meant sweat and death, blood and pain. I simply accepted all of it. And I decided to work on myself, to strive not to be a burden to anyone at the front.”

Everything the men around her said about it, starting from her father, was a variation on the theme of “don’t go, it’s not a woman’s job.”

Functionality Has No Gender

“Sexism in the army, especially towards women at the front, is very annoying, although over time you react less intensely. For some reason, it's assumed by default that women won’t be able to cope at the front, that it will be physically hard for them. But it can be physically hard for men too. Men can also struggle with their work.”

The scariest thing would be if I weren’t allowed to take on a combat role. That’s the biggest threat to women when you’re motivated to fight, but the command keeps you for paperwork in the headquarters. In my opinion, it’s better to have men in the headquarters who can’t perform in positions than capable women. A person in any job, especially at the front, should be evaluated based on their abilities, not their gender.

Ada joined her unit in the spring of 2023, and since then has mastered the operation of various types of UAVs. Soledar, Lyman, Kupiansk, the Avdiivka direction, which later became Pokrovsky...

“In each platoon of my company, there is one woman in a combat role. We, like all soldiers, go to our positions for one or two, sometimes several days. It can be a dugout, a cellar, or just some thicket. The distance to the Russians varies, depending on the task and the type of ‘birds’ — up to a kilometer or more.

Women’s life at the position is just like that of men. It’s common for all soldiers. I don’t see any problem in military routine. To avoid worrying about my hairstyle, I wear dreadlocks; it’s very convenient — I can wash my hair every three weeks. If I need to change clothes in front of the guys, I just turn my back to them and change. It’s not a situation of ‘oh, a woman undressing’; it’s a situation of ‘a sister is changing’. And most of the male soldiers perceive it normally — they don’t even pay attention. As for the lack of daily female company, I’ve gotten used to it. I can talk to the guys about anything.”

According to Ada, manifestations of sexism can arise when a woman tries to use her gender as a reason for leniency. But often, discrimination occurs without cause. Some foolish jokes, teasing, ambiguous looks and tones, some distrust, a stigma of being a second-class being — this is very annoying, Ada notes. She has always resolutely stopped such things directed at her. She also gets very angry if any of her comrades try to defend her against a sexist because she is not a delicate girl in need of protection. She is a fighter who can stand up for herself.

“At the front, relationships between fighters of different genders are not based on eroticism. A different level of relationships emerges. You are not partners, not a couple, not colleagues, not friends — you are comrades, and you must complete combat tasks together, covering each other. Here, trust, reliability, and mutual assistance are at a level that doesn’t exist in civilian life. It’s not about eroticism; it’s about life and death.”

“I have a principled taboo on relationships with colleagues — it was the same in civilian life and in the army. My boyfriend is also at war — he serves in a different unit, not with me. He understands me perfectly and doesn’t put any barriers in front of me. Now I can’t even imagine having a relationship with a man who isn’t military.”

The Future Depends on Pins and Screws

When Ada went to the front, she was prepared for the possibility of being injured or killed on her first mission. But she didn’t dwell on possible physical suffering. Before the war, she had one operation — laser eye correction. She did it so she wouldn’t have to deal with lenses and glasses at the front.

“The biggest threat for UAV operators is mines, direct hits on the position, or moments when your own ‘bird’ activates due to technical reasons. I wasn’t lucky with the mine.”

I was driving the pickup truck. The wheel that was right under me hit a mine. My comrade was sitting in the passenger seat — he also got hurt, with a leg fracture. But he managed to call in our guys on adrenaline, applying tourniquets to me. I was essentially trapped in the vehicle, only my right arm could move. I saw my twisted legs and realized that I would probably lose two.”

Ada regained consciousness in a hospital in Zaporizhzhia. Her left leg had already been amputated. The right one — torn, with some metal fixator on it. Doctors said that it might also have to be amputated.

Our conversation with Ada is interrupted by the arrival of a doctor. He came to remove the stitches from her right leg: to close the wound, Ada underwent skin graft surgeries. Strips of skin were taken from both calves and implanted in the new location.

The doctor gradually removes the threads, cutting off the “excess” skin. He tells me about the pins and plates that are currently fixing the bones in Ada's right leg