Forged in occupation, Bucha’s women turned from war victim into drone hunters, protecting the very ground where they once ran for cover.
By Vira Kravchuk
19/04/2025
Euromaidan Press
In the streets where Russians killed their men, the women of Bucha now stand guard with machine guns.
They call themselves the Bucha Witches — a battalion of doctors, teachers, and office workers who traded trauma for grit and turned a massacre site into the birthplace of Ukraine’s first all-female anti-aircraft unit.
They’re water inspectors, ER doctors, and math teachers by day, who clock out from saving lives or grading papers — only to shoulder World War II machine guns and fire at Russian drones, defending the very streets where the past still bleeds into the present.
“Once you put on the uniform, you’re no longer a woman or a man— you’re a fighter,” says the chief of their territorial defense unit. “And a fighter is more than either. You’ve taken responsibility — for yourself, your country, and the people you protect.”
Born of loss, built to protect
What began as one of the darkest chapters of the war has become a symbol of Ukraine’s civilian resilience — a direct answer to Russia’s brutality.
In 2022, Bucha was among the first cities to fall under Russian occupation. While Russian troops targeted civilians indiscriminately, most of those executed in Bucha were men aged 18 to 60 — those unable to evacuate.
More than 600 people were killed or tortured in the city and surrounding villages, with entire families gunned down in their homes or on the street.
Born from necessity rather than choice, the Bucha Witches took up arms as Russian drones increasingly targeted Kyiv Oblast at night. With their husbands dead or deployed to eastern frontlines, these women filled the defense gap left behind.
They joined the ranks of Ukraine’s 68,000 female soldiers — just 8% of the military’s total strength in a country where conscription applies only to men, while women serve voluntarily.
Operating under the Territorial Community Volunteer Formation (DFTH), the unit rotates shifts every three days — allowing members to juggle their defense duties with day jobs and family life. They receive no government salary or benefits.
Meanwhile, weapons and supplies are sourced from local donations and salvaged equipment — a defense effort powered by community resolve rather than state support.
Russia took her husband — she took up arms
At 41, “Tayana” carries perhaps the heaviest burden of personal loss among the volunteers. During the fighting in Bucha, she lost her husband, who had left his journalism career to join territorial defense units on the first day of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The cascading tragedies continued as her mother succumbed to the constant stress of war, and her husband’s brother was also killed. The occupation destroyed both her home and her parents’ residence, leaving her homeless in the aftermath.
After her loss, she tried to enlist in Ukraine’s Armed Forces — but the trauma ran too deep, and the military turned her away. So she found a new mission with the Bucha Witches, all while working her day job as a water utility inspector.
Juggling defense work, a full-time job, and raising a 14-year-old is tough — but Tayana says the real battle is with people’s judgment. Critics called her reckless for choosing the front line over a ‘stable job’ and questioned her as a mother for putting duty to country first.
“I always turn around and walk away from such people because the defense of the state is the most important thing we have,” she told Frontliner.
Serving with the Bucha Witches has become a critical part of “Tayana’s” healing process. Training with the Bucha Witches brought her relief after her husband’s death, and now she feels that she has finally begun to live – and what for.
“If there’s no security, there will be no main job. If there’s no Ukraine, there will be no job, nothing will exist,” she says. “Thanks to volunteers like us, girls and boys who are at the zero line, [civilians] have jobs, can sleep, and their lives continue.”
Healing others by day, defending them by night
At just 26, “Mala” masterfully handles a Soviet-era machine gun designed during World War II. She’s nicknamed it “Maximka” — a nod to its model, the Maxim — and despite its age, keeps it in perfect working condition.
“Although it’s from the last century and has an outdated water cooling system, it shoots effectively with proper care,” she explains.
A hospital general practitioner by training, Mala joined the Bucha Witches as soon as she heard the unit was forming.
“I’ve wanted to serve for a long time, as there are many military personnel in my family, but I can’t join the army because I work as a practitioner in a hospital,” she told Frontliner.
Her commitment deepened after personal tragedy. Her boyfriend lost a leg to a landmine in Luhansk Oblast — but even in recovery, he supported her decision to volunteer. He now plans to rejoin the Azov unit once his rehabilitation is complete.
“Nobody wants their apartment to be hit”
“Forsazh,” 27, is Mala’s partner in the field, responsible for transporting equipment and supplying ammunition during missions. Her call sign — a reference to the Fast and Furious movie franchise (called Forsazh in Ukrainian) — was given by the unit’s armorer after he saw her high-speed driving in action.
Quick response is critical in her role, especially when they’re targeting fast-moving Iranian-made Shahed drones Russia uses to strike Ukrainian cities.
“Nobody wants their apartment to be hit. I have brothers, sisters, friends, godparents, and godchildren in Bucha,” she says when asked about her motivation.
Just like her partner, Forsazh is a medic — an anesthesiologist at Irpin Central Hospital. When Russia launched its assault on Kyiv, Irpin was one of the first cities to be hit, turning into a war zone within days.
As shells rained down on Irpin and neighboring Bucha, both women stayed behind, treating the wounded under fire and refusing to abandon their patients — even as their cities fell to occupation.
Different lives, same duty
At 51, “Cheri” didn’t set out to join the Bucha Witches — she was just giving a friend a ride to the recruitment meeting. But by the end of the conversation, she had signed up too.
Today, she patrols her sector and tracks incoming threats as an operational duty officer — all while teaching math and computer science and raising three kids at home.
“It will be difficult when school starts in September,” she acknowledges, “but despite everything, she wants to be useful to the community.”
The physical demands of service haven’t shaken her resolve — but futher deepened her sense of purpose.
“Everyone here is genuine; you can feel the support and help for each other,” she says.
Her family and friends have rallied behind her decision, and she believes her students will recognize and respect her commitment to defending their community.
“If everyone truly values and loves the country, being a true patriot, then we will definitely win,” she says. “We need to not undermine each other but help where we can.”
The witch in charge of the watch
As the first woman to join Bucha’s territorial defense forces, 31-year-old “Calypso” naturally assumed leadership of the women’s unit when it formed.
After Russia’s full-scale invasion, she evacuated her mother to safety — then picked up a weapon. Known by her call sign “Calypso,” she first served on rapid response teams, patrolling
neighborhoods, checking bomb shelters during air raids, and helping counter Russian sabotage groups operating behind the lines.
Over time, her role shifted to training new female volunteers in anti-aircraft defense — expanding the unit’s reach across Kyiv Oblast.
Before the war transformed her life, Calypso worked as a service manager for door stores and as a restaurant administrator – a long begotten civilian life she no longer has time for.
“I’ve completely committed myself to work,” she told. “It would be great if women throughout Ukraine could protect their families. We work as one team. All for one.”
Now, Calypso plays a key role in expanding the unit. Beyond her operational duties, she actively recruits and mentors new female volunteers, encouraging them to step forward and join the ranks of the grassroots air defense.
“We have weapons, but we lack hands to hold these weapons, so we’re constantly recruiting,” she explains, noting that many men avoid volunteering for territorial defense.
Women now make up more than half of the Bucha territorial defense unit, according to its chief of staff — and recruitment is still underway. But their influence reaches far beyond the city, as the Bucha Witches help redefine local defense across the Kyiv region.
What started as a stopgap solution to a manpower crisis has evolved into a lean, effective defense force — one that lets women defend their communities without leaving their civilian lives behind. It’s a uniquely Ukrainian model for surviving a war that won’t wait — and Bucha Witches are just a drop of a looming shift.
With plans for an all-female UAV unit announced in mid-2024, women-led military efforts are no longer the exception. As Ukraine faces a grinding war and a shrinking draft pool, female-driven defense is quickly becoming part of the new normal.
“Thanks to them, most Kyiv and Bucha residents sleep peacefully in their homes and often don’t even react to air alerts,” Calypso said.