Hanna Kudriavtseva (31)
From police detective to deminer
The moment Ukraine was invaded in 2022, Hanna Kudriavtseva decided she had to do something to support her country. For nearly a decade, she had worked as a police investigator handling homicide and violent crime cases. But now she felt she needed to do even more:
“When I joined the police at the age of 18, I swore an oath of loyalty to the people. Nothing has changed since then, and that is why I decided to become a deminer. Our land, fields, and forests are filled with all kinds of explosive remnants of war, making it dangerous, especially for children, to move around. My work helps give families greater peace of mind, so they do not have to leave the country,” she explains.
Instead of putting on a police uniform, Hanna now starts each morning by donning heavy protective gear. Most of her workday is spent meticulously scanning the ground with a metal detector. She has helped locate the remains of cluster munitions 43 times, and each time she has felt a wave of relief. Every single one of those explosives could have taken the life of a fellow Ukrainian.
“When I joined the police, I swore an oath of loyalty to the people. That hasn’t changed.”
“My work helps give families greater peace of mind, so they do not have to leave the country.”
But it is not only Hanna’s job that has changed. The war has fundamentally transformed her entire life:
“The feeling of safety has completely disappeared from my daily life. I used to spend days in the forest without a phone, but I can no longer do that. I cannot be out of touch with my loved ones because I worry about them all the time, and they worry about me. I have to keep up with the news, and I message them immediately if there has been a major attack.”Hanna Kudriavtseva – deminer
“The feeling of safety has completely disappeared from my daily life. I used to spend days in the forest without a phone, but I can no longer do that. I cannot be out of touch with my loved ones because I worry about them all the time.”
Hanna has many friends and acquaintances serving in the military. Some of them have already been killed. Among those she has lost are her childhood friend and her first love:
“My emotions fluctuate greatly, from hatred of the enemy to love for Ukraine. But it is important that hatred does not take over my soul. I want to preserve my humanity and compassion. At first, I was afraid that I would become hardened, but I think I have actually become more empathetic. I cry more often. At first, I did not like that because I believed I had to be strong. But over time, I have allowed my feelings to be there. And I know for certain that I am exactly where I am meant to be right now, here in Ukraine.”
