Marusia Zvirobiy – Ukrainian Volunteer and Soldier

Marusia Zvirobiy is a Ukrainian volunteer, soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and public figure. She took an active part in the Revolution of Dignity, joining the resistance against Yanukovych’s dictatorship right after the events of February 18, 2014, in Mariinsky Park and on Maidan. Marusia became a volunteer and launched the project “Help for the Wounded of Maidan.”

When Russia launched its armed aggression against Ukraine in 2014, Marusia turned into a military volunteer. She began supporting Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines. In the summer, she organized a basic military training ground where volunteer instructors with combat experience trained Ukrainian servicemen and members of volunteer battalions before deployment.

Founding “Marusia’s Training Ground”

Later that year, Marusia became deputy head of the Right Sector in Kyiv region under Ihor “Topolya” Mazur. She also founded the “Marusia’s Training Ground,” where professional instructors, working voluntarily, trained Ukrainian contract soldiers and volunteers preparing for the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO).

They found land near Kyiv and gathered specialists to train recruits. Every weekend, people from across Ukraine came there for military preparation — both soldiers and civilians. She and her team found land near Kyiv and gathered specialists to train recruits. Every weekend, people from all over Ukraine came there for preparation — both military and civilians.

Air Assault Forces

In 2015, Marusia’s team began cooperating with the 79th Air Assault Brigade, training contract soldiers for service. The unit became known as “Marusia’s Bears.” They carried out combat missions in the village of Pisky, Donetsk region, during the ATO.

In 2016, Marusia officially joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine, becoming the commander of a mobile airborne instructor group — “Marusia’s Bears” — within the 199th Training Center of the Air Assault Forces.
A year later, she served in the Rapid Response Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine. In 2018, she returned to the Air Assault Forces with a new project.

Continued Service and Recognition

From 2018 to 2019, she served under contract in the 132nd Separate Reconnaissance Battalion of the Air Assault Forces, performing missions in the Mariupol sector. In early 2019, with the support of Air Assault Forces Commander Mykhailo Zabrodskyi and Chief of the General Staff Viktor Muzhenko, she launched a pilot project for short combat rotations within a reconnaissance battalion of the AAF.

For her contribution to Ukraine’s fight against the enemy, Marusia Zvirobiy received the Presidential Award “For Humanitarian Participation in the Anti-Terrorist Operation” and the honorary title “People’s Hero of Ukraine.”