Today at 18:47
On the screen of her old laptop that Yulia Tolopa carried through many battles, the veteran shows footage from a drone that was used by Ukrainian artillery spotters in Donbas. The woman who now has many battle stories to share, had never experienced war first hand before moving to Ukraine.
“I came of my own free will to learn more about the Maidan, to find out why the people rose up, and what caused the conflict and how it really unfolded. Because, as they say, to watch the Russian media is to disrespect yourself,” war veteran Tolopa said.
With her new friends she met at the EuroMaidan revolution, Yulia volunteered to join the Aydar battalion and went to Donbas to defend Ukraine from the hybrid offensive unleashed by her own country’s leadership. By then she had already realized that on the other side of the front line were her compatriots. This was soon confirmed by a phone call from the FSB, Russia’s security service, as well as messages from her old friends, Russian nationalists.
“They began messaging me that they were in Donetsk and in Luhansk, that they were going to start killing people to create ‘the Russian world’ over here and so on. To which I replied that they are simply traitors,” Tolopa said.
Soon Yulia became a target of a mudslinging campaign by Kremlin-controlled propaganda. Even her parents did not understand why their daughter left to defend Ukraine. Yulia no longer communicates with her family.
The person closest to her made an appearance during our interview…
4-year-old Myroslava is so far the only Ukrainian in their small family. Yulia Tolopa has been seeking citizenship for more than five years. Politicians promised to help, but the State Migration Service insists on her renouncing the Russian citizenship. This presents a problem.
“For this, I need to go either to the Russian embassy or go home and tell the guys ‘go to hell, I give up citizenship, give me that piece of paper.’ Clearly, this is not possible,” Tolopa said.
Several months ago, she was granted Ukrainian citizenship by a presidential decree – for outstanding service to the country. In addition to this, a law, which allows Yulia to avoid formalities with renouncing her Russian citizenship, was adopted. However, for now, the procedure is still flawed.
“There are amendments to be made by our Cabinet of Ministers. But it’s busy with other work. As the migration service and my friends said: ‘wait, Yulia’,” She added.
Yuliya has quit the army. She needs to recover after the years spent on the front line. Yulia dreams of traveling abroad with her daughter. However, this trip will remain a dream until Ukraine completes the procedure of granting her citizenship.
