Olena Leonidivna Bilozerska (

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

: ; born 5 August 1979) is a Ukrainian sniper and journalist. She served in the

Armed Forces of Ukraine , imports = , exports = , history = , ranks = Military ranks of Ukraine , country=Ukraine The Armed Forces of Ukraine ( uk, Збро́йні си́ли Украї́ни), most commonly known ...

and in

Ukrainian volunteer battalions Ukrainian volunteer battalions (, more formally , or abbreviated ) were militias and paramilitary groups mobilized as a response to the perceived state of weakness and unwillingness of the regular Armed Forces to counter rising separatism in spr ...

during the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatist forces in Donbas, Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since Feb ...

Life

Prior to her military service, Bilozerska was a poet and a journalist. In 2011, her apartment was searched by Ukrainian authorities and her electronic devices were confiscated. The search was decried by human rights groups as a violation of

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic News media, media, especially publication, published materials, should be conside ...

, as Bilozerska was not accused of a crime. Bilozerska saved money for two years to buy her rifle, and she was taught to shoot by her husband in anticipation of

military conflict War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...

with Russia. She began her military career as a volunteer sniper, serving in the

Ukrainian Volunteer Corps The Right Sector Ukrainian Volunteer Corps () or simply the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps (), is the paramilitary arm of far-right Ukrainian nationalist party Right Sector. The Ukrainian Volunteer Corps was founded on July 17, 2014, as one of the " vo ...

from 2014 to 2015. She was first stationed in

Dnipro Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...

, Ukraine, shortly after the onset of the

in April 2014. Bilozerska was involved in the movement to allow women to formally enlist in the Ukrainian military, which was legalized in 2016. She served in the Ukrainian Volunteer Army from 2016 to 2017. She formally joined the

as an officer in 2018, and she served as the commander of an artillery platoon for two years in

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: Names of European cities in different languages (C–D), cities' alternat ...

. Bilozerska was featured in the 2017 Ukrainian documentary ''Invisible Battalion'', bringing national attention to female soldiers. She published her account of the Russo-Ukrainian War, ''Diary of an Illegal Soldier'', in 2020. Bilozerska's reputation has made her a common target of

Russian web brigades Russian web brigades (also called Russian trolls, Russian bots, Kremlin Bots, Kremlins or Rustapar) are state-sponsored anonymous Internet political commentators and trolls linked to the Government of Russia. Participants report that they are org ...

, and the Russian government has falsely announced her death on multiple occasions.

Awards

* Order for Courage 3d classPavlo Kushch. Government courier. (In Ukrainian). Олена БІЛОЗЕРСЬКА: «Навіть у бойові моменти не забувала, що я не тільки снайпер, а й журналістка».
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References

Living people 20th-century Ukrainian journalists 21st-century Ukrainian journalists 21st-century Ukrainian women journalists Ukrainian female military personnel Ukrainian military snipers Ukrainian military personnel of the Russian invasion of Ukraine Ukrainian military personnel of the war in Donbas 20th-century Ukrainian women journalists Women war correspondents 1979 births {{Ukraine-mil-bio-stub