Zoryana Grebenyukova-Kobenko
A Senior Lieutenant in the Medical Service of the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade,
artist, curator, creator, and writer.
Author of the short story “Nomads” in the collection Stories of Warriors, in which she reflects on war and love through the lens of personal memories and experiences. Instead of combat scenes, the story is an inner journey through loss, memory, and love for those close to her. A poignant text about human existence in a world that has fallen apart, and about the strength to remain alive — through art, through words, through love.
Military path
Zoryana is 38 years old. She was born and lives in Lviv.
She is a Senior Lieutenant in the Medical Service and has been serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine since September 2022 — initially with the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade, later with the 155th Separate Brigade and the 124th Operational Center.
She has participated in combat operations in Donetsk and Mykolaiv regions. She previously served as the head of the brigade medical service, and now, due to health reasons, continues her service as head of a medical post.
The happiest moments for me in the war have been meeting people I was close to or worked with in the cultural sphere before the war, who are now serving as well. To encounter them unexpectedly in frontline towns — at the post office or over coffee — and share the joy of seeing each other again.
Civilian Path
Before the war, her life was completely immersed in art.
A graduate of Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University, Zoryana chose the path of an artist — she worked as a gallery owner, curator of art events and international projects, production artist in cinema, and VJ.
When the full-scale war began, she was working with the international charity “Doctors Without Borders.” Within a few months, she voluntarily joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
How she started writing
I have been writing poetry since childhood. I never wrote prose. But then I set a goal to write a book about my husband, the artist Yurii Kobenko. During the war, when all my loved ones were far away, I began recording my thoughts, memories, and feelings. This is how my frontline diary was born — and words became my breath.
Favorite Books, Music, and Films
Music: Coil, Yurii Kobenko (Kub), the sound of rain.
Books: Zbigniew Herbert “The Barbarian in the Garden”, Marcel Proust “In Search of Lost Time”, Fernando Pessoa “The Book of Disquiet”, Srdjan Valarevic “Como”, Judith Hermann “Summerhouse, Later”, Taras Prokhasko “The Complicated Ones”, Liubko Deresh “Arche”, Carl Gustav Jung “Essays on the Symbolism of the Self”, Marcus Aurelius “Meditations”, Carlos Castaneda “The Teachings of Don Juan”, Julio Cortázar “Manual for Manuel”, Jorge Luis Borges “The Aleph”.
Films: Akira Kurosawa “Seven Samurai”, Andrzej Żuławski “On the Silver Globe”.
We will prevail thanks to our love of freedom. I am happy to be Ukrainian. I feel how important it is for me, even amid the hardships of service, to create art, seek new ideas, and bring them to life here in Ukraine. I am grateful to our ancestors who preserved our land and fought for centuries for the freedom of our people. I feel this continuity of generations, I understand how difficult it has been, but our free spirit, passed down through the ages, is my treasure.