Yuliia Paievska: Aikido Master, Paramedic, and Volunteer

November 21, 2018November 2, 2025

Yuliia Paievska is a Ukrainian servicewoman, paramedic, volunteer, and military medic. Since 2018 — commander of the “Taira’s Angels” unit and evacuation department of the 61st military mobile hospital.

Before 2014, “Taira” worked in art ceramics and book graphics. When the first clashes began during the Revolution of Dignity, she helped the wounded and thus became a Euromaidan paramedic. She gained all her skills “in the field” when helping the wounded.

That’s when she received the call sign “Taira.” In ancient Japan, this was the name of a group of clans that had imperial origin and were deprived of prince status. However, they quickly turned into samurai — through constant performance of military tasks. Yuliia Paievska practices sports, holds a 5th dan in aikido, and heads the aikido federation “Mutokukai Ukraine.”

From Euromaidan to the Front Lines

With the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war in 2014, she went to Donetsk Oblast as a medic. Initially, she acted independently as a paramedic. Gradually, already at the front, she gathered her evacuation team called “Taira’s Angels.”

In spring 2016, “Taira’s Angels” began cooperation with the ASAP Rescue team. In 2018, “Taira’s Angels” left ASAP when Yuliia Paievska signed a contract with the Armed Forces of Ukraine and headed her own unit — the evacuation department of the 61st mobile military hospital in Mariupol.

Combat Injury and Recovery

Yuliia has a combat injury: during one combat mission, “Taira” received an injury as a result of which she had to replace both hip joints with prosthetics. Here’s how she describes the circumstances of receiving such an injury:

During evacuation, after a battle — they still ‘poured down’ a bit somewhere — we were loading a fighter into the car. He was so big, he jerked, and I, so he wouldn’t fall, catch him — and apparently, I slipped. I don’t remember this moment. I only recall sitting on the ground and it hurt terribly. I injected myself with painkillers, crawled to the door, pulled myself up because I couldn’t stand. The guys loaded the wounded into the car. The painkiller started working. I performed all necessary manipulations with the fighter.

In October 2018, Yuliia Paievska won a gold medal in swimming and bronze in archery at the international sports competition “Invictus Games” (an international multi-sport event for wounded, injured, and sick servicemembers).

She received the order “People’s Hero of Ukraine,” the badge “For Humanitarian Participation in ATO,” medals “Defender of the Fatherland” and “For Assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”