Vladyslava V. Chernykh (Aida)

Vladyslava Valentynivna Chernikh was born on June 28, 1994, in the family of Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, pharmacist Valentyn Chernikh. In 2017, she graduated with honors from the Kharkiv National Medical University, and studied in the postgraduate program at the National University of Pharmacy. She worked on her own research in university laboratories, and her publications were published in professional scientific journals. In May 2022, after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, she joined the territorial defense forces as a combat medic of the volunteer formation "Khartia", where she became the first woman in its field unit. During her service, she was involved in reconnaissance and became a pilot of drones of various purposes, including reconnaissance drones, bombers, and strike drones. As part of the unit, she participated in combat operations near Kupiansk and in the Donbas, holding the positions of medic and commander of the strike drone group simultaneously. At the end of 2022, after her RPAS crew was fired upon by an enemy helicopter, she saved the life of a severely wounded comrade by providing first aid. She was killed on December 28, 2022, during shelling near the city of Bakhmut. The funeral for Vladyslava Chernikh was held at the premises of the Pharmaceutical University, which was previously headed by her father. On December 30, 2022, the fallen medic was buried at the 2nd City Cemetery in Kharkiv.