Lyubov Medvedeva - from teacher to defender of Ukrainian skies

An Espreso journalist shares Lyubov Medvedeva’s story.

Lyubov wanted to take the military path from a young age. The paratrooper's father taught his daughter to love the military. Already in 11th grade she knew she wanted to join up. But it was not easy, and at first, it didn’t even seem possible.

"Women were not drafted into the army," Lyubov recalls. "And for me it was so prestigious to be a woman warrior. However, back then it was just not possible, so I focused on establishing myself in a profession: I decided I would work with children. I did that for a while, until I met my husband. He was then serving in the 8th regiment of the Special Operations Forces. It was a funny story. We met on Valentine's Day. He tripped and fell on the street and I went over to ask if everything was okay. He confessed to me later he had thought back then that if I came up to him, we would be together. We've been together for 15 years."

After meeting her husband, Lyubov decided to make her dream come true and join up. She waited until her son started kindergarten. It was not easy to get into the Special Operations Forces. They require a very high level of physical fitness.

"My husband said, 'Pursue it, if that’s really what you want. But do it on your own, that’s no issue for me', he laughed. I did everything, even studied Morse code before joining. And I shot and jumped in Kropyvnytsky. Honestly, it was so difficult for me that sometimes I wanted to cry, but I persevered. And soon I became a radio operator in one of the special regiments."

Lyubov Medvedeva’s ambition only grew as she gained more experience, she set her sights on becoming an officer. But to reach that level, she had to return to her studies and complete a higher education course. She got a degree in psychology. It was then that she joined Ukraine’s Air Force, and now defends Ukrainian skies.

"When I joined the Air Force, everything was new to me. I've never dealt with aircraft or missiles," she said. "But now I'm very proud that I can save Ukrainian lives. During this war, we are always ready to protect our skies."

Lyubov explains that serving in the Air Force is challenging, but says that they work hard and to very high professional standards.

"You can see how many air targets we are destroying. That is our achievement," Lyubov Medvedeva is proud of her work.

Lyubov is constantly at work. Her husband was also drafted, he works as an instructor for Ukrainian servicemen. Their children, a 14-year-old son and an 8-year-old daughter, wait for their parents to come home. 

"Our children are proud of us because we are defending Ukraine," says Lyubov.

He serves with Ukraine’s Land Forces while she is in the Air Force. They check in with each other on the phone when they can, and then they go back to work. In her 40s, she is in great shape, able to easily complete a 20K run.  They plan to complete the Ukrainian Armed Forces Run charity marathon and add more medals to the family collection. But above all, they consider it their duty to protect Ukraine from invading Russian forces.