'I quit life as a yacht-sailing mum to fight Putin on the front line in Ukraine'

A 52-year-old yacht-sailing captain has told the Express she felt compelled to join the Ukrainian army because she "wanted to be useful" in the war against Russia.

Prior to Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion, Lesya Ganzha was working as a journalist writing about the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk. In her spare time, she was an avid sailor who'd embarked on long trips to far-flung places like Brazil.

But when she learned of Russian tanks rolling into her homeland, she went to her local recruitment office.

"I had two options to meet them with or without a gun," she told the Express, "and I prefer the gun."

However, Ganzha discovered that signing up was far more difficult than might be expected. Multiple army offices turned her away.

"I tried to volunteer with my daughter, but they didn't accept us," she added. "So I made food put it in the back of my car and drove it to soldiers so they could eat."

Although she was contributing to the war effort, Ganzha was keen to do more, and it didn't take long for her to have a rifle thrust into her hands.

"I was told there was a until of territorial defence that put out an urgent request for fighters. I joined and was very happy that somebody gave me a gun," she said.

As Ukraine desperately sought to fight back the Russian advance, Ganzha found herself on the opposite side of the River Irpin to a tank column which had ploughed through Bucha, where they inflicted horrific crimes on the civilian population.

She stood with the other volunteers, ready to fight but feeling very unready for the attack.

Ganzha added: "Everybody was preparing for the Russian tanks when we started to see the column was moving in the opposite direction, away from Kyiv and back towards the border.

"It was like a miracle because they were professional soldiers and we were just the territorial support. We were ready to say our fairwells because our only training at that point had been 'if you can to shoot, shoot in the direction of the enemy."

The mother feels guilty about that face-off on the banks of the river Irpin, knowing what she does now about the suffering being endured by the residents of Bucha at that time.

After that battle, she joined an infantry division; she found life as a footsoldier to be either "very awful or very dull."

Life in the army is not easy for a woman in her 50s; frequently, she faces misogyny from comrades and superiors. In some cases, they will disrespect her to her face or say they didn't want her on their team.

After bouncing around a few units, she decided to try her hand at drone operation and began practicing with her daughter's boyfriend's device. It was not easy to pilot, however.

"I couldn't get it to work and I was crying and crying with frustration. My colleagues who were 20 years younger were able to do it in maybe 1 or 2 attempts," she added.

But powered by the same determination that has seen her sail through the roughest of seas, Ganzha refused to give up.

She has now mastered drone flying to the extent that her younger male colleagues pay her the biggest mark of respect.

"They ask for me to be on their team," she added with a smile.