Combat medic Oleksandra Mulkevych leaves posthumous letter

Oleksandra "Mike" Mulkevych, a combat medic from the Hospitallers Medical Battalion, was killed in action in Kharkiv Oblast on 14 August. She was killed by a Russian drone when she and her colleagues were working on the last day of their rotation. They were supposed to return home the next day.

Source: Ukrainska Pravda.Zhyttia 

Details: At Oleksandra's request, her friends posted on her Facebook page the last message she left in case something happened to her.

The combat medic wrote in her last will that a warrior’s joy is to die on the battlefield.

"We are all warriors in a way, some on the battlefield, some fighting corruption, some restoring justice in the courts. Our people fight incurable diseases, and scientists fight gravity. We are such a fighting nation. And very passionate about freedom.

Ukrainians are free people, and this cannot be taken away from us. We are free in our thoughts, views and actions. And we have no limits. There are no limits in anything – neither in technology nor in discoveries. We can do anything we want," the statement says.

Oleksandra wrote that she was lucky to be born in the best country in the world, Ukraine, and "it is a country for which it is an honour to die".

"And it's even better to live for it. To live, for many of us, for several lifetimes. To educate young Ukrainians in love for the world, strength, and indomitability. To show them all the beauty of Karadag, the salt mines of Donbas, spoil tips, protected spits, estuaries, the largest caves and сhervona ruta [a plant widely known as monarda, or Rhododendron myrtifolium – ed.].

Each of us carries a light inside us; don't be afraid to shine it. We will see each other again. Ukraine will prevail!" the combat medic said in her posthumous letter.

One of Oleksandra's close friends, Yehor Shumikhin, shared his memories of her with Ukrainska Pravda.Zhyttia.

Quote from Yehor Shumikhin: "It was a friendship where there was no need to prove anything to each other. I just knew that she was in my life and always would be.

Sasha was not a simple person, I should not hide it. But she was real, she kept a tight circle of friends. Her motto was: Dream big, do good, and that's how she lived: she was a blood donor, and we jokingly competed with her to see who could beat the other to be rewarded as the Honorary Donor; she was constantly looking after some crows and pigeons with broken wings on her balcony; she was an activist for a foundation that helps the elderly; she took a dog with three legs from the street; she sorted rubbish… It may sound a bit pretentious, but she lived by helping others, she always cared," Oleksandra’s friend posted.

Her going to war was a natural turn of her civilian life that was full of empathy, Shumikhin believes.

Quote from Yehor Shumikhin: "It was not an infantile and romantic decision. She had been preparing for a long time and in good faith to bring maximum benefit where possible and necessary. That place was the Hospitallers [a volunteer organisation of paramedics fighting in the war since 2014 – ed.]. I didn't talk to her about the war a lot, I was worried about her, but I think Sasha was happy there. She found exactly the right place where her desire to help could be fully implemented."

The Starenki Charitable Foundation published a post in memory of Oleksandra ["starenki", in Ukrainian, is a diminutive that stands for "the elderly people" – ed.].

Quote from the Starenki Foundation: "We, our team, do not remember ourselves without Sasha. It seems that she has always been a part of the Starenki."

They said that Oleksandra joined them when almost the entire foundation team was still volunteering, and "everyone had to do everything".

Quote from the Starenki Foundation:  "Organising the transhipment of a lorryload of nappies into two small cars in a couple of hours? Easy. Quickly implementing a creative project from scratch? Sasha could handle it because she was definitely all about creativity. Misunderstandings with partners? Sasha could solve everything. Telling foreign journalists about the foundation? Sasha was ready to do it. Is someone upset or needs support? Sasha would be there with her jokes and stories, and everyone would feel better."

Oleksandra's funeral will take place on 17 August in Kyiv at Baikove Cemetery.

Background: Yuliia "Tysha" (Silence) Boianovska was killed in action on 12 August. She served in the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade of the Azov regiment. The girl would have turned 20 on 2 September.

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