Maria Zaitseva

Maria Zaitseva (16 January 2001 – 17 January 2025) was a Belarusian military volunteer in the Second International Legion of Ukraine.

Biography 2020 Belarus election protests Maria Zaitseva went viral on the internet in August 2020, after a photo of her taken during the Belarusian protests circulated showing her sitting bloodied after being injured while taking part in the protests against Alexander Lukashenko's reelection, internationally widely seen as illegitimate. She had traveled from her hometown of Gomel to Minsk to join the protests, despite objections from her family. On the evening of 9 August, she was among the front of the protesters in downtown Minsk facing off against security forces, where she described standing peacefully shouting. The protesters were attacked with stun grenades, rubber bullets and water cannons, and the last thing Zaitseva remembered from the protest was an explosion and her lying on the ground. Following her injury, a photographer took the picture of her sitting quietly on the asphalt covered in blood.

The attack left Zaitseva permanently deaf in one ear, and she also suffered a brain hematoma, as well as severe injuries to her eyes and face. She also described being affected by post-traumatic stress disorder. After undergoing several operations in Belarus, she went to the Czech Republic to receive specialized treatment,