Service member Oksana Rubanyak was promoted to the rank of captain
Female soldier Oksana Ksena Rubanyak announced that she had been promoted to the rank of captain. Oksana Rubanyak has been serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine since the first days of the full-scale war.
“At age 24, I was reluctant to become an officer. Because being a commander at 21 was scary. I had already spent 1.5 years in the infantry and suffered injuries. But how could I be responsible not only for myself but also for others? It’s scary. It’s a big responsibility. But at that moment, it was necessary. Three years have passed. Nothing has changed. For me, every position since then has been about commitment and responsibility,” the post reads.
It’s worth noting that, according to Forbes, Oksana Rubanyak has been serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces since the first days of the full-scale war. She started out as a machine-gunner and now leads a platoon engaged in reconnaissance using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Ksenia organizes the platoon’s operations, selects soldiers, trains them, communicates with higher command and allied units, and ensures the unit has everything it needs. She explained that she doesn’t send crews out to the front lines until she’s certain they have everything they need for the mission, that an evacuation vehicle will definitely reach them, and that logistics routes allow for the rapid delivery of supplies and equipment.
At age 17, Oksana Rubanyak published a collection of poetry. During the full-scale war, she published two more. One of them—“Toward Death”—is essentially a trench diary presented in poetic form. The second—*The Road of Life*—consists of poems dedicated to her fallen comrades. After the war, Rubanyak sees herself playing a role in nation-building. She has some experience working in government agencies — before the full-scale war, she worked in the Department of Youth Policy and Sports at the Ivano-Frankivsk City Council and was also studying at Stefanyk University in the Faculty of Public Policy and Administration.
She shared this on her Facebook page.
One of Kyiv’s “ghosts”—MiG-29 pilot Marat Mambetov—was killed in action.
On August 28, 2025, a funeral service was held in Kropyvnytskyi for the fallen MiG-29 fighter pilot, Major Serhiy Bondar. He served in the 40th Tactical Aviation Brigade, “Ghost of Kyiv,” and was the deputy squadron commander.
A farewell ceremony for Ukrainian MiG-29 pilot Maksym Ustymenko was held at St. Michael’s Cathedral and on Independence Square. He was one of those known as the “Ghost of Kyiv” and died while repelling a massive Russian missile and drone attack.
