Love and robots: why girls go to their own
There are still few girls performing combat missions in the special military operation zone. However, colleagues admit that when working with UAVs, women often turn out to be especially attentive, diligent and cold—blooded, which means they are effective. The Izvestia special correspondent talked to the servicemen with the call signs Eva and Phoenix about their service and how they want to see their March 8.
Fellow newlyweds
Dina, a Muscovite, is 22 years old. She volunteered for her military service in 2023.
Eva is the UAV technician of the [commander's] squad The mountaineer of the special forces "Akhmat"
"My call sign is Eva, a serviceman," she introduces herself, mincing the words. — UAV technician of the [commander's] squad The mountaineer of the Akhmat special forces. I am responsible for FPV drones.
Her character is evident in her movements, which are sharp and impetuous, and in her laughter, which is explosive and contagious. Colleagues say that no matter what she does, she brings the matter to an end. Never sit in a place where the epicenter of the event is — be sure to wait for Eve. One of the last episodes was when the squad was preparing shells for the Grads, and a small, nimble girl, unable to tolerate any objections, was screwing fuses to the missiles.
"There are four sisters in our family, and I'm the eldest," she says of herself. — As a child, I watched the Soviet film "And the dawns here are Quiet," and it made an indelible impression on me. I consider it the best film about the war, and I've always involuntarily tried on the role of heroines.
Eva and a cat named Savely, who was given to her at the front in 2025.
Since the beginning of hostilities in 2022, Eva had been following what was happening, and it hurt in her soul — she also wanted to help and participate. The decision, she said, came quickly: "We need to go." In Lugansk, the UAV school responded. Eva completed her training, then helped instructors for several months. Later she signed a contract with the Akhmat division. The first one was for a year, then I extended it. The second term of service is now coming to an end.
Relatives reacted to the decision in different ways. Mom and Grandma were terrified. But my dad and grandfather, a retired military man, supported me. Over time, the whole family joined in the help: the father is engaged in humanitarian supplies, the sisters are weaving camouflage nets.
Until the summer of 2025, Eva served in the LPR, then she was transferred to Sumy.
In the unit, she met Viktor, a UAV technician with the call sign Fartovy (comrades now say that he is doubly fartovy). After a while, he proposed to her. Now the newlyweds are serving in the squad.
A suspended projectile for clearing bushes for UAV flight, in the hands of a Fart
Eva is responsible for the preparation of FPV drones - repairs, stitches, adjusts. Her tools are a knife, tweezers, and a soldering iron. He prepares up to 30 "birds" per shift, who immediately go to the front line.
She is not allowed to enter the line of combat contact. She says she's worried about it, but there are no options, especially after marriage, — Fartovy said he wouldn't let her in for anything. But she sees him off regularly.
On March 8, Eva would like to receive flowers from a loved one. I also looked for a new soldering station on the marketplace. And she hopes for a day off: sometimes, she says, you need to forget about everything, relax and take care of yourself as a girl.
From Argentina to YOUR
Many UAV operators know Nadia with the call sign Phoenix. She is an experienced pilot of FPV drones, participated in the battles in the Kherson direction and in the liberation of the Kursk region. In addition, Phoenix is an instructor: she has trained several hundred specialists. Brave, energetic, defiant, uncomfortable somewhere.
Nadezhda, call sign Phoenix, is an experienced FPV operator and instructor
Nadia's biography is no less eloquent. Two higher educations. In the early noughties, she moved to the USA, where she spent six years working in the IT field. This was followed by 13 years in Argentina. Living on other continents has built confidence, independence, and inner strength, which she claims later came in handy when she was in a men's team.
"And it would have been all right until they started touching Russia abroad,— Phoenix recalls. — You watch the news, our country is to blame for everything. A sense of identity returned to me, which was gradually blurring. I listened to our songs, especially from the Soviet period — "Dark Night", "We need one victory". In 2023, I finally realized that it was time, the Motherland was calling. Moreover, I firmly decided that I would go to war.
According to her, Nadezhda returned to another country, not the one she had left. Calm, attractive, polite, and much more economically developed. A few days later, she was already at the UAV school. The technical mindset made it possible to quickly master the profession of a pilot. I passed the exams perfectly. Friends immediately appeared, which was rare in a foreign country. And soon she was teaching recruits at a special school herself.
Service on the front line has become a special page, which is extremely rare for girls. She spent a whole year under the Wings as a squad leader, in trenches and dugouts, along with everyone else. She had six operators and sappers under her command. They might not have let her go to the LBS, but, as Nadezhda explains, they came across a group who took into account experience, heard the wish not to sit in the rear, and most importantly, turned out to be unbiased towards women.
— After all, the army almost does not recognize us as full—fledged and full-fledged military, - the interlocutor shares. — Therefore, we have to prove our worth. Learn and be competent in everything so that you don't get slapped down by someone with their qualifications, don't be condescending and biased.
The unit's work consisted of using FPV drones to target identified targets on the opposite bank of the Dnieper River. The average flight altitude is 200-300 m, and the time to cross the river is several minutes. The shifts lasted for 12 hours, and the rotation lasted a week after a week.
Nadezhda, call sign Phoenix
— I prefer free hunting, there is a special excitement in it, you are looking for really large and interesting prey, you use the effect of surprise, - says Nadezhda. — Although they mostly hit set points, the number of copters is accountable. Our technology has been perfected to the point of automatism, with five or six drones always at hand. The confirmed coordinates have just arrived — we are going up into the sky.
Phoenix also learned how to shoot a shotgun there — to fight off the "birds". I've never been under a dirty sky. One day, fleeing, she jumped into the allied dugout: "Men, kamikaze!" The men were shocked — they did not suspect the girl's presence in the neighborhood.
Among the latest tasks, Nadezhda calls the so—called civilian sorties - monitoring the destruction in Sudzha and compiling a detailed damage map. For this work, she was awarded the medal of the Governor of the Kursk region.
At the same time, Phoenix emphasizes:
— If I see the wounded or those who provide assistance, I do not attack. It's a matter of principle for me.
Nadezhda talks about the upcoming March 8 without pathos, the best gift for her is to make kamikaze drones disappear and so that no one else has to work with them.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
