In 2022, Lara Marlowe travelled to Ukraine to report for the Irish Times on the experiences of women in the military. It was there that she met Lieutenant Yulia Mykytenko, who she described as ‘one of the most extraordinary people I have interviewed in 42 years of journalism’. Lieutenant Yulia Mykytenko was born on 18 July 1995 in Kyiv. She was in the ‘Female Squad’ of the 16th regiment of the Self-Defence Force during the Euromaidan and later, joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine. On 24 February 2022, Russia staged a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Mykytenko knew instantly that she would return to active duty and now serves as the commander of a frontline drone unit in Donbas. Mykytenko has been at the heart of the Ukraine War.