Yevdokiya Zavaliy

Yevdokiya Nikolaevna Zavaly (, ; 28 May 1924 – 5 May 2010) was the only Soviet female commander of a platoon of marines during the Second World War.

Early life Zavaly was born on 28 May 1924 in the town of Novy Buh of the Mykolaiv district of the Odesa province.

World War II In 1941, shortly after she turned 17, the invasion of the Soviet Union began. On July 25, 1941, fighting broke out in her hometown, Novy Buh. She bandaged wounded soldiers and commanders under bombardment. When the 96th Cavalry Regiment of the 5th Cavalry Division of the 2nd Cavalry Corps began to drop back, she persuaded the regiment commander to take her with him, saying she was soon 18 years old.

On 13 August 1941, German troops approached Novy Buh. Their offensive was restrained by units of the 169th Rifle Division of the 18th Army. At night, the Soviet units left the Novy Bug by order of the command, and on 14 August 1941, the Nazis occupied her native village. While crossing the Dnipro river near Khortytsia, she was wounded and sent to a hospital in Krasnodar.

Commanding a platoon, she participated in the Siege of Sevastopol, stormed Mount Sapun (for which she was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War 1st class), participated in the battles for Balaklava, Tsukrova Holivka, and Kerch, crossed the Dniester, participated in the re-occupation of Bessarabia and fought in the battles of Taman, Tuapse, and Novorossiysk. She participated in landings in Constanța in Romania, Varna and Burgas in Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia.

During the Budapest offensive, Zavaliy and her platoon seized the bunker of the German command through the city sewer with oxygen tanks. Medal "For the Defense of Sevastopol" Medal "For the Capture of Budapest" Medal "For the capture of Vienna" Medal "For the Liberation of Belgrade"

Ukraine

Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky III class Order of the Golden Fortune III class

Honorary titles Zavaly is an honorary citizen of eight cities, including Bilhorod-Dnistrovsky (Ukraine), Burgas (Bulgaria), Novy Buh (Ukraine), and Varna (Bulgaria).