Despite Injuries and Captivity “Mother Tanya” Returned to the Front Line
TRANSLATED ABSTRACT of original article
Military comrades call Tetyana Borysenko “Mother Tanya”. Tetyana got into the war in 2014. After the Russians occupied Crimea and started armed aggression in the east of Ukraine, Tetyana went to Luhansk Oblast as part of the Aydar volunteer battalion.
She worked as a health instructor, provided first aid, and removed shrapnel from wounds. In July 2014, she was injured and contused. After a short treatment, Tetyana returned to the front line.
After being ambushed, Tetyana agreed to go to the captured territory in order to collect the bodies of her brothers in arms. Despite the agreement, the separatists captured Tetyana. She was held captive for 24 days. During that period, she lost 17 kilograms of weight. A month later, the combat medic returned to the front lines and served for two and a half years, after which she was discharged due to the state of her health.
When the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022, Tetyana had the opportunity to leave the country, but decided to stay and help.
On February 27, the house of Tetyana’s father was directly hit by a projectile, as a result of which part of the walls were destroyed; Tetyana herself was pulled out from under the rubble by a neighbor. But already on May 9, Tetyana went to Kharkiv, where she joined the special forces battalion for the liberation of the occupied territories of the Kherson region.
Tetyana later resigned from service due to age. She returned home, to a destroyed house. Today, her main task is to rebuild her home. She continues to volunteer, traveling to the hottest parts of the front line to bring help to the soldiers.
Tetyana has received several awards: the Order of Princess Olga III Class, the Order “For Courage” and the award “People’s Hero of Ukraine”.
About the Author
Yuliia Mishchenko is a journalist, born in Lypova Dolyna, Sumy region, Ukraine. She works for the newspaper Nash Kray and the website Lypova Dolyna.NEWS. Yuliya won the All-Ukrainian contest of journalistic works “Reform of local self-government” in the category “Articles in print media”. In May 2023 she represented the journalistic community of Sumy region at the security conference in Tbilisi, Georgia. Yuliia has visited about 30 countries and likes sports.