When you see death at work every day, your heart can begin to harden. Especially when it is the death of defenceless civilians. Especially when it comes suddenly and senselessly. Whether it is children sleeping at home with their parents, or colleagues risking their lives to save others.
War does that to people. War is merciless and unjust. War does not explain itself. It just takes. To survive its horrors, you learn to carry it like something permanent. You learn to live with the constant pain and accept that any day could be your last.
The State Emergency Service of Ukraine, often called heroes without weapons, works around the clock to save lives. With shifts that can last more than 24 hours, they remain at the site of destruction until every rescue operation is complete.
But what is it like to work in the State Emergency Service of Ukraine? I spoke with 5 women in SESU. How do they maintain that tangible balance in their lives when they are not just rescuers, but also daughters, wives and mothers.
It turns out that real heroes are those who show up every single day, no matter what. The ones who run toward danger to ease someone else’s suffering, even when they are hurting themselves.
Every single day, Anastasiia Kuchynska, Inna Safronova, Maryna Averina, Olena Brovun and Olena Kotok and many others in the State Emergency Service of Ukraine stand with the Ukrainian people in the face of Russia’s merciless war. European Union supports the State Emergency Service of Ukraine by conducting the largest civil protection operation in response to the war in Ukraine.
The path to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine
What makes people choose to risk their own lives to save others? I tried to understand whether this is something you are born with, a calling you discover, or something shaped by witnessing the injustice that war brings – especially in the face of “double-tap” attacks, where a second strike deliberately targets first responders arriving to help the wounded.
Maryna Averina, a spokeswoman for the State Emergency Service in the Odesa region, for example, comes from a family of rescuers. She grew up surrounded by fire stations and sirens.
Maryna knew this was a dangerous profession. Although she initially wanted to become a journalist, her parents encouraged her and her brother to join the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.
Olena Brovun, a paramedic in the Kyiv region, was captivated by the sound of sirens from a young age – whether from a fire truck or an ambulance.
‘I felt that behind that sound, something profoundly important was happening – someone was saving a life.’
Anastasiia Kuchynska, a Head of the Psychological Service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, always knew she wanted to work in her field, but never imagined doing so within the State Emergency Service of Ukraine – especially during wartime. Growing up, war was something distant, something we read about in books. For Ukraine, it has become a reality.
Inna Safronova, a Robotics Services Operator in the Dnipropetrovsk region, did not know what she wanted to become as a child. Today, she would not trade her job for anything else. She enjoys working with unmanned systems and believes in the power of technology to keep people safe.
Olena Kotok, an operational duty officer in the dispatch service of the Regional Emergency Management Centre in the Kyiv region, once dreamed of becoming a teacher and working with children. Like Inna, she never imagined working in the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.
‘Every call I take, every decision I make, can help save a life. Every life saved reminds us why we do this work,’ explains Olena.
There is always one call you remember the most
The State Emergency Service of Ukraine works around the clock to save lives. Yet there are always missions that stay with you – long after the sirens fade.
For Anastasiia Kuchynska, every call carries destruction, death, and devastation. But there is one she cannot forget. The one where she had to calm parents whose 2 teenage children had been killed in an attack. Together with rescuers and the family, she helped recover their bodies from the rubble. The work ended. The pain did not. It stayed with Anastasiia – and it still lingers.
Olena Kotok shares a similar memory. A multi-storey building was hit. Civilians were killed. Among them was a little girl – the same age as her own daughter. Some calls do not leave you. This was one of them.
For Maryna Averina, 15 March 2024 was the hardest day of her life. A Russian strike hit the same place twice. The first team of rescuers – among them her colleagues Vitalii Alimov and Denys Kolesnikov – were killed in action. Her team arrived just 5 minutes after the first strike, only to find the ground already scattered with bodies. And what do you do? You breathe in, you breathe out, and you continue working.
For Inna Safronova, it was her very first mission. She operated a ground robot while her colleague controlled a UAV.
‘After the operation was over, I realised that this coordination, these skills, and this technology truly save lives – especially the lives of our own teams,’ says Inna.
For Olena Brovun, it is impossible to name just one mission. There are too many. A family lost in a road accident. Hours spent searching for a child under the rubble, only to bring the devastating news that he did not survive. And yet, there are also moments when someone is pulled out alive.
‘When you see a life saved, all the risks you took to get there fade into the background,’ says Olena.
But none of these moments happen in isolation. Behind every rescue, every call received, every life saved, there is not only the courage of those on the ground, but also the support that makes their work possible.
EU support to SESU’s everyday work
The European Union is coordinating the largest and most complex UCPM operation ever. All 27 EU Member States, together with 6 participating states, have provided in-kind assistance – millions of items, from first aid kits and shelter equipment to firefighting tools, water pumps, generators, and fuel.
Anastasiia Kuchynska, Maryna Averina, and Olena Kotok all stress that equipment provided through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism allows them to save lives more effectively. It gives them not only the tools, but also something less visible and just as important – a sense that they are not alone.
Olena Brovun adds that, especially during the winter, EU support, for her as a paramedic, was beyond words: ‘High-tech equipment, protective gear, specialised vehicles, medicines, and generators make it possible to provide care even where infrastructure has been destroyed’.
Finding hope in small tasks
So what keeps them going, beyond the support from the EU? Is it something deeper – an invisible spark that lights up when they do their job?
In the midst of so many grim moments, they still have to find hope. But where?
Anastasiia Kuchynska is one of many who lost everything because of the war. She says this helps her understand the pain of those she supports. Today, she finds happiness in things that once seemed ordinary – the sun, fresh air, the changing seasons. She no longer takes anything for granted.
Maryna Averina learned early on that if you let everything pass through your heart, you will not survive in this job. Her strength comes from her daughter – and from her husband, who volunteered to go to the frontline in the first days of the full-scale invasion. She remembers a 42-hour shift without rest. For her, strength means holding yourself together for others, even when you are breaking inside:
‘This job destroys me. And this job heals me. Here, I am like a phoenix,’ says Maryna.
Inna Safronova finds her strength in her daughter: ‘She is my hope, my motivation, my engine. Because of her, I know I cannot give up. I believe that victory will come. Hope is no longer something perfect – it is something we fight for, something we earn.’
Olena Brovun says her strength lies in being unbreakable at work, while remaining a loving woman and mother at home:
‘In our work, compassion matters – without it, you become just a function. But you must also learn to switch on a cold, clear mind. Your tears will not help the patient. Your actions will.’
Olena Kotok, whose husband is also a rescuer, puts it simply:
‘Now I know for sure: the most valuable things are life and the people we love.’
Advice to women who want to join any emergency service
Watching these women in action, it becomes clear where the strength of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine comes from. As of 2026, women make up more than 20% of the staff.
I asked them what they would say to young women who want to follow this path.
‘Do not lose yourself. Build resilience, but do not lose your humanity,’ says Olena Kotok. ‘Sometimes what a person needs most is a calm voice and your support.’
Anastasiia Kuchynska adds:
‘Take care of yourself first. You cannot help others if you are exhausted. Find your balance between work and rest – it is essential.’
Olena Brovun says not to be afraid. The work is hard. There will be moments when you want to give up: ‘But saving a life is worth every hardship.’
Inna Safronova reminds that this path is not about heroism from a storybook. It is about endurance, discipline, and inner strength.
‘If your heart says yes - do not be afraid. But don’t overestimate what it demands. This is difficult, essential, and deeply human work.’
People helping people
Behind every life saved in Ukraine, there are people, people helping other people.
Today, you met 5 of them. But behind them stand tens of thousands more. Every day, across the country, Ukrainian rescuers respond to strikes, pull survivors from the rubble, extinguish fires, clear unexploded ordnance, and provide urgent care in the most difficult conditions. Their work is relentless. It does not stop. And its scale is immeasurable.
The State Emergency Service of Ukraine works around the clock – often in 24-hour shifts, often under threat, often without pause – until every operation is complete, until every life that can be saved is saved.
From Brussels, the European Union stands alongside them – supporting their work, providing equipment, expertise, and coordination to help them continue saving lives.
This is what European solidarity in action looks like – it is people, standing for other people, day after day. Even in the darkest moments, refusing to stop. And then doing it again the next day.
