From: Euromaiden Press — On 2 August, the mountain town of Rakhiv in Zakarpattia gathered to say farewell to 20-year-old Anhelina Martyniuk, a junior sergeant in Ukraine’s Armed Forces.
She had returned to Ukraine voluntarily at 18, signed a military contract, and served in a frontline reconnaissance unit until her death near Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast.
Anhelina was born in Rakhiv on 8 June 2005. She spent her early childhood in the town’s schools before she and her mother moved abroad. She studied in the Czech Republic and later lived in Switzerland.
“She was a girl from our village. It’s very sad that she went to this war so young, and it took her life,” said Oksana, a local resident. “I remember her as a little girl in elementary school.”
According to Rakhiv’s acting mayor, Yevhen Molnar, her decision to return wasn’t impulsive. “She lived abroad, gained an education, but came back to Ukraine as soon as she turned 18 and signed a contract with the Armed Forces,” he said. “Her mother confirmed—this was a conscious decision. She knew what she was doing.”
Anhelina served for two years. She became a junior sergeant and was appointed chief sergeant-commander of a reconnaissance unit in the 155th Mechanized Battalion—a demanding combat role.
Just eight days before her death, she was married. On 26 July, during a combat operation near Pokrovsk, she was killed.
Anhelina’s story is not just one of loss. It’s one of choice—of returning to a country at war, taking up a weapon, and accepting the consequences. She did not drift into military service. She stepped toward it, eyes open.
Eternal Memory!
Voice of Ukraine 