Books About Mariupol and Women Who Fought for Ukraine’s Freedom Presented in Prague

Ukrainian military authors Maryna Mirzayeva and Oleksandr Ivantsov presented their books in Prague, sharing personal wartime stories and plans for European translations and future events.

A meeting between the Ukrainian community and military authors Maryna “Mamayka” Mirzayeva and Oleksandr “Skhid” Ivantsov took place in the Czech capital.

This was reported by a Ukrinform correspondent.

“Mamayka” and “Skhid” are service members of the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade of the 3rd Army Corps of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The books presented at the event are their literary debuts.

Maryna is a historian, service member, and author of Women of Freedom. “My book combines Ukrainian history, research on women in the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (OUN-UPA), and my own wartime diary entries,” the author briefly told a Ukrinform correspondent, describing her book.

The publication features 46 stories of Ukrainian women who consciously chose to fight the same enemy that is trying to destroy Ukraine today.

“My book is a personal story and an account of my journey through modern warfare,” says Oleksandr “Skhid” Ivantsov about his work Flashback: Mariupol.

Oleksandr is a Hero of Ukraine who took part in a helicopter mission to besieged Mariupol. On March 25, 2022, he participated in a secret Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) mission that delivered reinforcements and medical supplies to the Azovstal steel plant.

He became the only Ukrainian service member who did not surrender to Russian captivity when Ukrainian troops left Azovstal in May 2022. “Skhid” hid at the plant for a week before covering approximately 200 kilometers on foot through occupied territory over the course of 18 days.

The serviceman began writing the material on which the book is based on scraps of paper between Russian shelling attacks during the defense of Mariupol.

“Our books represent Ukraine as a whole — both today and in the past. They combine personal stories that demonstrate the Ukrainian people’s role in securing their own statehood. These are living voices: Oleksandr’s, as someone who made his way out of besieged Mariupol after arriving there by helicopter, and my own story — that of a woman who joins the military and reflects on how the experience of war is relived through a woman’s perspective,” Mirzayeva said.

The military authors recently presented their works in Paris and at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Further presentations are planned, provided their military service allows it. There are also plans to translate the books into various European languages, with agreements already in place.

Participants at the meeting, held at the Ukrainian Youth Center Hub Nusle, had the opportunity to talk with the authors, purchase their books, and support the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade’s Unmanned Systems Battalion (BBS) by donating toward Starlink equipment and components for fixed-wing strike UAVs.

As a reminder, Ukraine once again presented its national stand at the Frankfurt Book Fair this year, one of the world’s largest and most influential literary events, which ran from October 7 to 11.