Heroes of Ukraine. She saved dozens of soldiers the day she died: remembering combat medic Kateryna Stupnytska

Military medic, sergeant of the Ukraine's Armed Forces Kateryna Stupnytska was born on April 11, 1996 in the Rivne region. Since childhood, she dreamed of becoming a doctor, so she went to study at the Dubensky Medical College  And already at the age of 20, she joined the district military committee.

So, at the beginning of the great war, 25-year-old Kateryna served in the 14th Prince Roman the Great detached mechanized brigade for more than a year, got into rotations of different complexity on the front line, but always performed her duties at the highest level, not forgetting humanity and a good word.

"To simply say that she was a good person is to say nothing. She was a person with a big heart, always smiling, joyful," says the commander of her company, soldier Mykola. "She always provided help, no matter who approached her. As a doctor, she was always very competent, always knew who and what was needed."

On that day, March 8, Kateryna saved many lives, because her unit took part in a difficult combat task - clearing the village of Makariv in the Kyiv region.

"It turned out not to be the military force and equipment we were counting on. So that day we were surrounded," the soldier recalls. "All the wounded were where Kateryna could drive up, provide help and pick them up. Kateryna drove, we took them away."  wounded. She took out the seriously wounded platoon commander, and the lightly wounded, who could sit, were taken to the BMP, everyone was sent."

Already at the meeting place, the doctor continued to provide assistance and send the boys to hospitals. However, when the rest of the fighters left the encirclement, retreated and regrouped, Russian artillery began to cover them.

"There were such sinkholes that poured the foundation - and built a house. Then they were injured again. Again, Kateryna's work. She was already helped by a local resident to transport the wounded, among them there were heavy ones, as it turned out. One boy remained alive only thanks to Katya, but still alone  can't walk - he had an injured spine," Mykola explains.

Only closer to the evening, there seemed to be a moment of calm at first glance.  Kateryna returned to her unit after evacuating the wounded. There was a moment of calm, which everyone used in their own way. Someone was at the positions, someone was on patrol, and others had the opportunity to rest a little, get themselves in order and talk with their relatives. A tired medic was among them.

"And at the same time, when everything more or less stopped and calmed down, when we no longer expected any trouble, at about half past ten in the evening, two planes flew in. They arrived precisely, in the room where the KSP was located, where the first aid station was located,  they dropped 4 bombs, and another one, half a ton, was 15-20 meters away from him. I was found near those funnels, I was conscious, but I don't even remember that," says the fighter. "They were looking for Kateryna among the rubble, but they found her  body the next day, 20 meters from the bombed-out building."

As Mykola adds, Kateryna was the only girl in their unit and the only medic. A few days before, the commander tried to send the girl away from the hot spot, but she refused.

On March 12, the hero, whose hands saved dozens of Ukrainian soldiers' lives, was buried in her native village of Zaliznytsia in the Rivne region. By the decree of the Ukrainian President dated March 19, 2022, combat medic, sergeant Kateryna Stupnytskyi was posthumously awarded the Golden Star order.