From Classroom to Combat: the teacher who downed a Russian missile

A video of the feat was released by the Ukrainian Air Force
It was the female soldiers first live operation
She destroyed a Kh-101 with a MANPAD
A massive Russian aerial attack on Ukraine
The soldier and the missile
Comments from the Ukrainian Air Force
What you can see in the video
Helped by fellow female soldiers
What are MANPADS?
Details about Hrabarchuk’s life
Hrabarchuk joined the military in 2021
In training for five months
“I threw away all emotions and excitement”
Presented with awards
A video of the feat was released by the Ukrainian Air Force

A lot of combat footage has been published online revealing the realities of the war unfolding in Ukraine. However, there have only been few pieces of footage as interesting as the one showing a former Ukrainian kindergarten using a man-portable air defense weapon to take her first Russian missile.

 

 

It was the female soldiers first live operation

In November 2024, an all-female air defense crew manned with a 9K38 Igla man-portable air defense system (MANPAD) downed a Russian cruise missile. But there was something spectacular about the incident. Not only was it recorded, but it was one team member's first real combat.

Photo Credit: Telegram @kpszsu

She destroyed a Kh-101 with a MANPAD

Natalia Hrabarchuk, a former kindergarten teacher and the soldier who shot down the Russian missile, was on her first live combat launch when she destroyed the incoming missile, a feat which was captured on video. 

Photo Credit: Facebook @rustemumerov.ua

A massive Russian aerial attack on Ukraine

On November 17th, Russia launched a large aerial attack on Ukraine that saw hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles and cruise missiles fired at targets throughout the country. It was one of these cruise missiles that Hrabarchuk allegedly downed. 

The soldier and the missile

Hrabarchuk reportedly used her 9K38 Igla to shoot down one Russian Kh-101 subsonic cruise missile. Footage of Hrabarchuk’s feat was captured by a fellow soldier and posted on social media by the Ukrainian Air Force. 

Photo Credit: Telegram @kpszsu

Comments from the Ukrainian Air Force

“On the morning of November 17, soldier Nataliia Hrabarchuk successfully shot down a Russian cruise missile using an Igla MANPADS,” the Ukrainian Air Force post read. “It was her first combat launch and first successful hit!” the post continued. 

Photo Credit: Telegram @kpszsu

What you can see in the video

In the video, Hrabarchuk can be seen holding the Igla MANPAD and firing it at a target in the sky. It is difficult to tell from the footage whether or not Hrabarchuk actually hit her target, but she does fall to her knees in celebration of her accomplishment. 

Photo Credit: Telegram @kpszsu

Helped by fellow female soldiers

Senior soldier Valentyna Steblevets tracked the incoming missile and used a tablet to let Hrabarchuk know when the target would be in range while the other senior soldier in the air defense crew, Olha Maksymenko, was recording the operation and captured the successful downing according to The New Voice of Ukraine.

Photo Credit: Telegram @kpszsu

 

 

What are MANPADS?

Newsweek noted that MANPADs are “portable surface-to-air missiles.” They are guided weapons that “pose a threat to low-flying aircraft.” This includes cruise missiles.

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Vitaly V. Kuzmin, CC BY-SA 4.0

Details about Hrabarchuk’s life

Anton Gerashchenko, a former advisor to Ukraine's Internal Affairs Ministry, reported in a post on X that Hrabarchuk was a kindergarten teacher before joining the armed forces. 

Photo Credit: Telegram @kpszsu

Hrabarchuk joined the military in 2021

Gerashchenko added Hrabarchuk had been “an anti-aircraft gunner of the anti-aircraft missile unit of the Galicia-Volyn radio engineering brigade of the ‘West’ air command” since 2021. 

Photo Credit: Telegram @kpszsu

In training for five months

The Ukrainian military news website Militarnyi reported that Hrabarchuk had spent five months in training mastering various types of MANPADS before she fired her first one and destroyed her first target. 

“I threw away all emotions and excitement”

“When the enemy missile was in front of me, I threw away all emotions and excitement. I had made hundreds of training launches on simulators. And here – the first combat and on target,” Hrabarchuk said about the incident according to Militarnyi

Photo Credit: Telegram @kpszsu

"I am very glad that I managed to do it"

“I am very glad that I managed to do it. After the combat work, I let my emotions out a bit. Our mobile firing group includes female soldiers. We make every effort to achieve results and give our best,” Hrabarchuk added. 

Photo Credit: Telegram @kpszsu

Presented with awards

Hrabarchuk, Steblevets, and Maksymenko were later presented with an award by Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov on November 19th. Umerov said their operation protected a key piece of infrastructure on the Rivne Oblast according to the New Voice of Ukraine. 

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Photo Credit: Facebook @rustemumerov.ua

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