Valentyna Pashchenko - participant of the regional contest "Woman of Donetsk Region" in 2025, nomination "Caring Heart"
Valentyna Pashchenko was born on April 2, 1997, in the village of Malynivka, Nikolska community, received a degree in nursing and worked in a hospital in Mariupol. She was a wife, a mother of a little girl, and had an ordinary peaceful life.
But the war forced her to make a choice. Her relatives were already serving in the Armed Forces, and Valentyna signed a contract. She became a nurse in a military hospital, rescuing the wounded, staying close to the soldiers even when she could have left.
When Russia launched a full-scale invasion, the hospital was under fire in Mariupol. Valentyna refused maternity leave, entrusted her daughter to her sister, and stayed working. After the hospital was bombed, she and her colleagues moved to Azovstal, where life in the underground bunker turned into an endless day of war. They bandaged wounds, saved those who could still be saved, and shared the last crumbs of bread.
On May 18, 2022, Valentyna was taken prisoner. Behind the barbed wire, she experienced cold, hunger and psychological pressure. The worst thing was hearing the screams of the tortured boys. And yet, together with other captive girls, she held on: she helped in the kitchen, supported others, and prayed to see her daughter.
Her ordeal ended during the exchange in October 2022. Valentyna returned home, underwent rehabilitation, and resumed her work, this time at a hospital in Dnipro.
Today, Valentyna is once again saving the lives of the wounded, proving that invincibility has a woman's face. She is a symbol of those Ukrainian women who have become warriors without weapons but with big hearts.
Read the detailed story of the contestant here: https://surl.li/smbpam