Olga Simonova, a 34-year-old woman who gave up her Russian citizenship and joined the Ukrainian forces as a servicewoman following Putin’s decision to annex Crimea in 2014, was killed in combat on Tuesday. She was with the Ukrainian army’s 24th Mechanized Brigade and died after a landmine hit her vehicle in the southern Kherson region.

She was accorded an honorary three-gun salute as the Ukrainian army bid her farewell among her friends and co-fighters in the capital city of Kyiv. 

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Who was Olga Simonova?

Olga Simonova was born in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk but the exact date of her birth is as yet unknown. As a young girl, she excelled in sports like mountain climbing and karate and always wanted to represent Russia in them. 

However, her enchantment with Russia broke off when she read about Putin’s annexation efforts in the newspapers. Following a series of offensives by Russia in Chechnya, in the Donbas region of Ukraine, and in Crimea, Simonova lost all her love for her homeland. 

She bought a one-way ticket to Ukraine and decided that she would never return. After moving to Ukraine, Simonova joined Ukraine’s fight against the Russian forces in the Donbas region. In the Ukrainian army, her nom de guerre was “Simba”, borrowed from the main character in the film Lion King.

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Simonova’s stint in the Russian army, however, did not start right away. After moving to Ukraine from Russia, she first enlisted as a volunteer fighter with the Russian army. Gradually, she moved up the ranks and became a paramedic. After serving in this role for some time, she was officially enlisted in the Ukrainian Armed forces. 

According to reports by the Ukrainian media outlet TSN, she became the first foreign contractor in the Ukrainian army to receive citizenship in 2017. She later rose to the rank of sergeant and commanded both the infantry and military units. 

Simonova, at the time of her death, was unmarried and had no children.