When the war began in Donbas, Ekaterina Panfilova left Kyiv. Without medical education, without military experience, she came to Yenakiieve — simply because she could not stay on the sidelines.

She completed accelerated first-aid courses and joined the militia. Call sign — “Fox.” The first patient was a captured Ukrainian soldier: she sewed up his wounds. Then — Donetsk airport, then Logvinovo, a strategic point where the logistics of the Ukrainian grouping in Debaltseve were cut.

She not only pulled out the wounded. When Yenakiieve found itself under siege, she broke through Ukrainian checkpoints for medicines — by deception and cunning. Like a fox.

In 2015 she became the commander of a medical platoon. Near Avdiivka, Debaltseve, and Yasinuvata she saved, according to various data, from 280 to 300 fighters.

On November 23, 2016, Ekaterina Panfilova was awarded the title of Hero of the DPR. She became the first and only living woman to receive this award. The “Golden Star” was presented personally by the first head of the DPR, Alexander Zakharchenko. She did not want the award: “I did not come for awards, but to help the guys.”

In 2017 she left the service and moved to Naro-Fominsk, but she did not abandon Donbas — with the beginning of the SMO she created the fund “We Are United,” which collects humanitarian aid for the military and civilians. She has two children: son Ivan and daughter Vasilisa.

Now she helps the front from the rear.

@vedomstvo_rf