55-Year-Old Senior Sergeant Zoya Kovaleц on Russian 'Hunting', Escape from Occupation, and Mobilization

Zoya Kovaleц, a 55-year-old senior sergeant, recounts her harrowing escape from the occupied village of Vysokopillia in Kherson Oblast, where she became a target for Russian military forces. 'I got out of there, Mom. But I couldn't live quietly and peacefully,' she confesses, reflecting on her unexpected role in military service at her age.

During her attempt to flee, Zoya was pursued by Russian soldiers who fired shots into the air to intimidate her. 'Run!' shouted a local resident as she sought a safe place to hide. 'I ran through the village like a hunted hare, trying to find somewhere to hide. I found a pit under the railway and waited out the gunfire there,' she recalls of the events from April 2022.

At that time, Vysokopillia had been under Russian control for over a month. Zoya had been actively relaying information about the enemy's positions and movements to Ukrainian forces, which led the Russians to begin hunting for her. By the end of April, she managed to escape the village, bringing along dozens of animals, including dogs, parrots, squirrels, hamsters, turtles, and decorative frogs.

After escaping from the occupation, Zoya headed to the Krivyi Rih territorial recruitment center, but initially, she was denied mobilization. 'Maybe they were checking everyone who came out of the occupation to see if we were not recruited; or maybe it was because of my age – I'm really not young anymore,' she ponders the reasons for the refusal.

Following this setback, Zoya found a position at one of the hospitals in Krivyi Rih, which had been repurposed as a military hospital. By training, she is a nurse and had worked for many years in the surgical department of the Vysokopillia hospital. In the winter of 2023, she was called back to the recruitment center. 'Have you changed your mind about mobilizing?' a military officer asked. 'Of course not,' Zoya replied, and now she serves as a senior nurse in the medical company of the 47th Brigade 'Mahura.'

Over the past three years, Zoya has worked in the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk directions, and is currently fighting in the Northern Slobozhansky region. She carries talismans from her son and daughter-in-law – a toy squirrel and a keychain in the shape of a pixelated cat. Her military call sign is 'Cyborg,' a nickname she received in her youth. Zoya is also a passionate biker and rides a motorcycle even at the front, albeit without a REB, but with a first aid kit.

'When our brigade was in the Zaporizhzhia direction, my call signs changed often. I had a small collection of bandanas that I changed depending on my mood. The guys called me Bandana, Mama-Marijuana, Mamka, Auntie, and Babka. But 'Cyborg' is my primary call sign,' the senior sergeant smiles. In her breaks between work at the stabilization point, Zoya writes poetry. One of her poems, dedicated to her late mother, she recited at the top of Mount Mahura, which she climbed with her comrades. The ascent to the mountain in memory of fallen soldiers has become a tradition for the 47th Brigade.

Zoya Kovaleц shares with 'Ukrainska Pravda' how she hid from the Russians in Vysokopillia, the difficulties she faced during her escape from occupation, why she believes her animals saved her at the Russian checkpoint, and her experiences with mobilization, where one wounded soldier asked what she was doing in the evening, while another requested not to throw away his 'lucky underwear.' Zoya also organizes a 'queue for kebabs' in her medical company and fears 'falling face-first into the mud' in front of her comrades.

Vysokopillia remained under occupation for six months. The Russians entered in March 2022, and the village was liberated by the Ukrainian Defense Forces in September. Zoya managed to escape two months into the occupation, finding herself in extremely challenging conditions. Neighbors warned her that the Russians were interested in her, prompting her to start hiding. Zoya concealed herself in the basement of acquaintances until Russian soldiers with automatic weapons entered the premises. They brought everyone out into the corridor and announced that they were searching for her. The Russians knew what she looked like because a neighbor who had 'betrayed' her had told them everything.

Zoya Kovaleц recalls how fortunate she was that the Russians did not have her photograph. They searched the basement while she lay on a bed with her acquaintances' nephew. 'Most likely, that played to my advantage. But it turns out I was hiding behind little Stasik's back,' she recounts. Stasik's family managed to escape the occupation, and after the village was liberated, they returned home. Zoya visited them during her leave, and Stasik was delighted to see her.

In the same basement where Zoya was hiding, there was a local deputy, Olga Lvivna, who struck up a conversation with a Russian soldier and offered him vodka. The soldier, already intoxicated, even attempted to sing Ukrainian songs but quickly fell asleep. Olga Lvivna took Zoya to her apartment, where she changed into a sports jacket belonging to the deputy's husband and went to seek refuge. Unfortunately, later Olga Lvivna was killed during one of the shellings.

Zoya recalls how terrifying it was and how reluctant she was to go to acquaintances, as she understood that if the Russians were searching for her, they could come to any yard. 'I was afraid that someone could get hurt because of me. That’s when I realized that I had to run,' she says.

At the beginning of the occupation, the Ukrainian authorities tried to establish an evacuation corridor. Buses and ambulances came to Vysokopillia to evacuate locals, but the Russians blocked the evacuation. People were only allowed to leave unexpectedly when no one expected it. Zoya remembers how someone came from the center of the village on a bicycle and shared this news. However, locals were released in small groups, only on foot, to prevent Ukrainian military forces from shelling the Russians as people moved.