Ukraine Loses Veteran Paramedic and Journalist Olena Sharhovska

Ukrainian society has lost a figure who bridged the worlds of front-line rescue and public information with the passing of Olena "Jane" Sharhovska. A veteran paramedic with the Hospitallers medical battalion, she also maintained a professional history as a journalist, translator, editor, and social media specialist, contributing to television and print projects for entities including Ukraїner and Osvitoria. Her death was announced by Yana Zinkevych, the Hospitallers' commander, and confirmed by former colleagues at Novynarnia.

Sharhovska's medical service began in 2015 with the First Volunteer Mobile Hospital named after Mykola Pyrohov, before she transitioned to the Hospitallers. Zinkevych described her actions in stark terms, stating, "Having mastered tactical medicine, Jane went to evacuate the wounded from the hottest sections of the front line, snatching the lives of our soldiers from the jaws of death on the way to stabilisation points." Her work was not limited to emergency care; she was also a co-organizer of the Invisible Battalion March in Kyiv in 2016, where participants urged authorities to allow women to occupy military positions previously reserved for men.

Following Russia's full-scale invasion, Sharhovska was in Portugal when the conflict began. Although an injury initially prevented her immediate return, she supported Ukraine as a volunteer from abroad before enlisting in the military on September 10, 2022, which coincided with her birthday. Serving with the International Legion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, she was deployed to Bakhmut, Toretsk, and Kharkiv Oblast, where she performed medical evacuations and trained others in tactical medicine. She was discharged in August 2024 for health reasons.

Former colleagues at Novynarnia remembered her as "a person of words and travel, with a deep interest in the world and in people." The outlet noted that she continued to assist fellow soldiers through fundraising and by purchasing vehicles for the front. Bohdan Lohvynenko, founder of Ukraїner and a former neighbor in Vynohradar, also paid tribute, recalling shared discussions in their kitchens and describing her as a driving force behind many processes. Her guiding principle, as stated in her work, was: "Do what you believe needs to be done, and then come what may."