Soldier Maria Bihun (Mriia) was killed while performing combat mission near Kupiansk. PHOTO
On 21 February 2026, during a combat mission near Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, Maria Bihun (Leut), a soldier of the 3rd Battalion of the 241st Brigade of the Territorial Defence Forces, died. Her call sign was Mriia.
This was reported by the partner of the deceased defender, Serhii Solovei, who served with her, according to Censor.NET.
What is known?
"She was very brave, with a capital B. She went where not everyone would go, wanted to be on par with everyone else, but was always two heads above the rest. She wanted to prove to everyone that a little girl is capable of anything, and that's how it was. She destroyed [the Russians] with her own hands, she covered 10 kilometres, crossing the river, carrying canisters and drones in her hands, she was always motivated and just calmly did her job. She was a heroine," her husband said about Maria.
He also shared his memories of how "we always joked about each other's height, I called her little, but I could never joke about the size of her heart, which was bigger than anyone else's, it embraced everything around her with its love, she cared about everything and everyone, people, animals and plants."
Maria was a medallist and activist
Zhytomyr Lyceum No. 25 reported that the farewell to the defender took place on 2 March at 14:00 near St. Michael's Cathedral and at 15:00 at the Smolian Military Cemetery.
"She was a talented person with a sharp mind and strong principles. She was the winner of numerous national and international competitions and Olympiads, and a laureate of the Presidential Award. From childhood, Maria had a clear patriotic position and grew up to be a person who was ready to fight for her future," Lyceum staff recalled.
- MARIA BIHUN (LEUT) with the call sign Mriia was a soldier in the 3rd Battalion of the 241st Brigade of the Territorial Defence Forces.
When the full-scale invasion began, the girl was studying at the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, majoring in software engineering.
Maria immediately began to actively engage in volunteer work, joined the ranks of the Kyiv Territorial Defence Forces, and from that moment on, she was constantly on the front lines and participated in active combat operations.
