Inna Derusova

Inna Mykolaivna Derusova (Ukrainian: Інна Миколаївна Дерусова, Russian: Инна Николаевна Дерусова; 5 July 1970 – 26 February 2022) was a Ukrainian military medic who was the first woman to be posthumously awarded the Hero of Ukraine distinction.[2]

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming conventions, the patronymic is Mykolaivna and the family name is Derusova.
Inna Derusova
Derusova with her Defender of the Motherland Medal
Native name
Інна Дерусова
Born(1970-07-05)July 5, 1970
Kryvyi Rih,[1] Ukrainian SSR, USSR
DiedFebruary 26, 2022(2022-02-26) (aged 51)
Okhtyrka, Ukraine
Allegiance Ukraine
Service/branch Ukrainian Ground Forces
Years of service2015–2022
RankSergeant
Unit58th Independent Motorized Infantry Brigade
Battles/wars
AwardsHero of Ukraine Order of the Gold Star (posthumously)

Civilian life

Derusova was born on 5 July 1970.[3] She lived in Kryvyi Rih. She was a nurse in civilian life.[1]

Military service

In 2014, at the start of the war in Donbas, Derusova's brother volunteered for the 40th Territorial Defence Battalion "Kryvbas".[3] Derusova joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2015 and served as a combat medic with the 58th Independent Motorized Infantry Brigade.[2] She was called "Violet" (Russian: Фиалка, after the small flower) because she was initially the only woman in the brigade.[1] She was a sergeant.[4] She had a lot of responsibilities, as the head of the medical service, of the medical center, and as a medical instructor.[3] Many medics from civilian life passed through her training to become combat medics in a few weeks.[3]

In 2016, her son, Sasha, who was a tattoo artist in civilian life, joined her unit to serve as a mortar operator. She was overjoyed when he married in late 2021.[3]

In 2018, Derusova enrolled in Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatiuk National Pedagogical University to study social work, to help the military yet another way.[1] She was regularly invited to give lectures about the war. She graduated in 2020, with thesis "Features of complex rehabilitation of ATO/JFO participants" (Russian: Особенности комплексной реабилитации участников АТО/ООС).[1]

On the first day, 24 February, of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Derusova was returning from vacation, but stopped to serve in the city of Okhtyrka in northeast Ukraine. She reportedly saved 10 wounded soldiers, but died herself on 26 February, from artillery shelling of her post.[2]

On May 13, 2022, she was buried on the Walk of Fame at the Central Cemetery in Kryvyi Rih.[5][6]

Awards

On 10 December 2021, Derusova was awarded the Defender of the Motherland Medal.[7]

On 12 March 2022, she was awarded the highest national title of Ukraine, Hero of Ukraine, with Order of the Gold Star.[8] She was the first woman to be awarded the title posthumously.[2][9]

On 25 March 2022, she was awarded the Ternopil Pedagogical University "Pride of TNPU" award.[1][10]

In April 2022, a street in the city of Mukachevo that was formerly named after Russian partisan Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya was renamed in Derusova's honor.[11]

Hospital visit hoax
Volodymyr Zelenskyy with Tetiana Ostashchenko visiting Kyiv military hospital in March 2022
Name tag, OSTASCHENKO Ukrainian: ОСТАЩЕНКО

On 13 March 2022, the Ukrainian government press service posted photos and video of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy visiting a Kyiv military hospital.[12] Pro-Russian sources such as RT and politician Illia Kyva claimed that the images showed Zelenskyy accompanied by Derusova, who had died in February, thereby proving the visit was pre-recorded or fake.[13][14] In fact, the woman accompanying Zelenskyy was Ukraine's medical forces commander Brigadier General Tetiana Ostashchenko, as could be read on her uniform.[15][16] The claim was considered to be part of a series of fake claims that Ukrainian authorities had fled the country.[13][17]

See also

References
  1. МИКИТЮК, Виктория (15 March 2022). ""Зная Инну, она по-другому и не могла погибнуть"" ["Knowing Inna, she could not have died differently"]. Fakty i Kommentarii (in Russian). Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  2. ОХРИМЕНКО, Ольга (13 March 2022). "Вперше звання Героя України посмертно присвоєно жінці" [For the first time, the title of Hero of Ukraine was posthumously awarded to a woman]. Fakty i Kommentarii (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  3. Задверняк, Наталія (13 March 2022). "Загинула, рятуючи поранених: Інна Дерусова — перша жінка, яка посмертно отримала звання Героя України" [Died rescuing the wounded: Inna Derusova - the first woman to posthumously receive the title of Hero of Ukraine]. armyinform.com.ua (in Ukrainian). Ukrainian Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  4. Zelenskyy, Volodymyr (10 December 2021). "Про відзначення державними нагородами України з нагоди Дня Сухопутних військ України" [On the awarding of state awards of Ukraine on Ukrainian Ground Forces Day]. Verkhovna Rada (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  5. "Прощавай, рятівнице! Кривий Ріг попрощався з нашою загиблою землячкою, Героєм України Інною Дерусовою". РУДАНА (in Ukrainian). 13 May 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  6. "У Кривому Розі провели в останню путь бойового медика Героя України Інну Дерусову, яка загинула на Сумщині | Перший міський". 15 May 2022. Archived from the original on 15 May 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  7. Zelenskyy, Volodymyr (10 December 2021). "УКАЗ ПРЕЗИДЕНТА УКРАЇНИ №629/2021 Про відзначення державними нагородами України з нагоди Дня Сухопутних військ України" [Order of the President of Ukraine No. 629/2021 On the awarding of state awards of Ukraine on Ukrainian Ground Forces Day]. President of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  8. Zelenskyy, Volodymyr. "УКАЗ ПРЕЗИДЕНТА УКРАЇНИ №127/2022 Про присвоєння звання Герой України" [Order of the President of Ukraine No.127/2022 On the awarding of Hero of Ukraine]. President of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  9. Zelenskyy, Volodymyr (13 March 2022). "Ще потрібно боротись і завдати ворогу максимальної шкоди на всіх напрямках оборони – звернення Президента України" [We must still fight and inflict maximum damage on the enemy in all areas of defense - address of the President of Ukraine]. President of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  10. "Гордість ТНПУ". Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatiuk National Pedagogical University (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  11. Семенюк, Анна (28 April 2022). "Майже 80 вулиць із "російськими" назвами перейменували у Мукачеві" [Almost 80 streets with "Russian" names were renamed in Mukachevo]. ZAXID.NET (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  12. "Президент відвідав поранених захисників України, які проходять лікування у військовому госпіталі". President of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). 13 March 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  13. Dejaifve, Aude (14 March 2022). "A pre-recorded video? The pro-Russian hoax suggesting that Volodymyr Zelensky has left Ukraine". The Observers - France 24. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  14. "RT: кадры посещения Зеленским раненых бойцов ВСУ оказались фейком" [RT: footage of Zelensky visiting wounded soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine turned out to be fake]. NEWS.ru (in Russian). 13 March 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  15. "No, en este vídeo de Zelenski visitando un hospital no sale una doctora fallecida antes de la visita: la mujer es Tatiana Ostashchenko, comandante de las Fuerzas Médicas de Ucrania" [No, in this video of Zelensky visiting a hospital a doctor who died before the visit does not appear: the woman is Tatiana Ostashchenko, commander of the Ukrainian Medical Forces]. Maldita.es (in Spanish). 14 March 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  16. "Fact Check-Ukraine's medical forces commander mistaken for deceased physician Inna Derusova". Reuters. 14 March 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  17. McCarthy, Bill (14 March 2022). "No, Zelensky's hospital visit video doesn't feature combat medic who died weeks earlier". PolitiFact. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
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