- On Friday, a funeral was held in Kyiv for a native-Russian lady who joined the Ukrainian Army.
- Olga Simonova (34), was a former soldier in the War in the Donbass for Russia, before switching sides.
- She was killed while fighting against Putin’s invasion of the Kherson region.
On Friday, Kyiv held a funeral for a native Russian-Russian woman who defected from Russia and fought in the Ukrainian army.
AP reportsAn honor guard used a three-gun salute in honor of Olga Simonova (34), who was killed fighting.
The Ukrainian flag and a toy Lion were placed on top of her coffin. This was a nod towards her nickname “Simba”, after The Lion King character.
Roman Hrytsyna/AP Photo
Simonova spoke to AP earlier this year. She explained that she grew-up a patriotic Russian patriot, but she became disillusioned after reading about Russia’s war in Chechneya, its actions in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas and Crimea, which Russia annexed last year.
She said that she felt that she could handle the situation and that her actions were right. I had to get a one way ticket. She said that she bought the ticket and then left.
She worked as a paramedic in the field and was later a volunteer fighter. Later, she enlisted as a soldier in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. She was promoted to sergeant and given command of both infantry-artillery units during the Donbas war, fighting against Russian-backed separatists.
Simonova claimed that she never concealed her Russian heritage from the soldiers she served alongside. In 2017, she was granted Ukrainian citizenship.
Friends and colleagues informed AP that Simonova was transferred to the Kherson region by Putin after he launched his invasion of Ukraine.
According to them, a landmine struck her vehicle on September 13th and killed her.
Dmytro Karabinovskyi was her friend and former commander.
Simonova was born at Chelyabinsk (west-central Russia) and was an avid athlete who excelled in karate as well as mountain climbing.
To local news station, she spoke of her home country. Novynarnia In 2018, she stated, “children are raised in a military patriotic way from an early stage.” This has been true in Russia since the beginning. These people are easy to manipulate. All you have to do is show them where they are and they will not be influenced by evidence of common-sense.
