Pastry chef by day, air defence operator by night: the woman shooting down Russian drones
Ukrainska Pravda
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9 min read
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Her life smells of chocolate, icing sugar and vanilla. But also of gun oil and fuel. Liudmyla Lysenko from Kyiv Oblast is a professional pastry chef whose cakes resemble works of art.
But for more than two years now, her schedule has been shaped not by a queue of clients' orders, but by duty shifts as part of theBucha Witchesunit. She does this work as a volunteer, without pay.
Today, she is also the commander of a mobile fire group. By day, she may be holding a mixer for cream; by night, a weapon.
Liudmyla explains why she joined the Defence Forces, what her shifts are like, and what it means to combine the roles of creator and defender.
"When I returned to Bucha, the town looked like it had been through a zombie apocalypse"
On Instagram, Lysenko's page is filled with beautiful photos of multi-tiered cakes, colourful pastries and flowers. But behind that picture lies another reality: she voluntarily helps defend the skies over Kyiv Oblast as part of a volunteer territorial community formation.
She says the horrors of the first days of Russia's full-scale invasion and the sight of destroyed Bucha, where she has lived since 2016, pushed her towards joining the fight.
"I remember that feeling of uncertainty very clearly when the war began – what should I do, how should I defend us? Helicopters were flying right over our roof. It became clear that we had to leave.
The explosions and bursts of gunfire were terrifying. I had no idea how to save my children, so leaving was the first logical decision. Unlike us, neighbours who had already lived through the occupation of Donetsk reacted more calmly, but for me the sounds of helicopters and explosions were frightening," Liudmyla recalls.
The family evacuated to Rivne Oblast, but returned to Bucha by mid-April. According to Lyudmila, the town looked like it had been through a zombie apocalypse – uncleaned, without electricity, water and with barelyany connection to the outside world.
"We came back simply to see whether our house had survived. It was still standing, although a mortar round had struck nearby and destroyed everything around it. Even now, there are ruins left standing, with only their foundations remaining. Those houses have never been rebuilt.
Shells kept flying over our house as they attacked Irpin," the heroine says.
"Russia's full-scale war has been going on for years, and I asked myself: 'What useful thing have I done?"
Two years after the start of the full-scale war, Liudmyla decided to join Ukraine's Defence Forces. She says the decision was not impulsive, but a well-considered one.
At present, the woman serves as the commander of a mobile fire group
Photo: Liudmyla Lysenko
When faced with claims that military service is not for women or mothers, Liudmyla has her own answer. She is convinced that defending her home is the highest form of maternal care today – creating comfort and warmth at home is only possible when the enemy is not standing at the doorstep.
"There is a war in the country, and I realised I knew absolutely nothing about defence. So I started looking for training courses. On Instagram, I found reservist training run by Azov fighters and veterans – to me, they are extraordinary people whose heroism and humanity are deeply inspiring.
"It covered everything: medicine, shooting, digging trenches. It motivated me enormously and made me believe that I was capable of far more," Liudmyla says.
Later, an acquaintance told Liudmyla about the Bucha Witches – a women's mobile air-defence fire unit formed in the spring 2024 as part of the Bucha volunteer territorial hromada formation (a hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories). The unit hunts down and destroys Russian drones over Kyiv Oblast.
Liudmyla passed the interview and joined the unit. She says her husband was not thrilled about her decision, while her children took it more calmly. Now, she has been serving for two years.
"At first, I was learning the specifics of how a mobile fire group operates. There are cast iron rules here – everyone has their own role. While one person is resting, another is on guard by the vehicle or behind the machine gun. I started my journey with guard duty. By then, I already had a fairly good command of weapons.
"It can be difficult at times, exhausting night shifts and winter colds, when your hands quite literally freeze to the machine gun, but I love this work.
"Now I see safety in a completely different way and always silently thank those who protect my sleep when I am off duty," says Liudmyla.
Liudmyla passed the interview and joined the Bucha Witches unit
Photo: Liudmyla Lysenko
"When you shoot down a Shahed drone, the adrenaline goes through the roof, but there is no fear"
At present, Liudmyla serves as the commander of a mobile fire group. Officially, she does not hold the status of a servicewoman, but she has her own set of responsibilities.
Service in a mobile fire group is not limited to combat deployments, it also involves strict daily training and preparation.
Liudmyla begins duty at 8am with the rest of her team. She admits there is currently a shortage of people. The work starts with technical checks: the team inspects weapons, counts ammunition rounds, checks the vehicle's condition and makes sure there is enough fuel. It is an essential daily routine.
In Liudmyla’s view, defending one’s home is the highest form of maternal care
Photo: Liudmyla Lysenko
The unit also takes turns guarding the vehicle, as the weapons cannot be left unattended.
"As soon as an air-raid alert is announced, the group immediately heads out to a designated position. There, we deploy the machine gun and set up the sights, bringing everything to full combat readiness to shoot down Shahed drones.
Sometimes the target does not enter our strike zone – then we work as reconnaissance. We track the drone's movement and pass on its exact route to the next group in the chain. This gives our colleagues time to prepare and open fire. Each of us has clearly assigned duties, and the overall result depends on how coordinated those actions are," Liudmyla explains.
She recalls the feeling of shooting down a Russian Shahed for the first time. She says her adrenaline was through the roof. There was no fear – only the understanding of responsibility for her team and for the country. It is like your first battle: the enemy is flying towards you, wanting to kill you, and your task is to stop it.
"The hardest part of being a commander is the responsibility," she says. "After opening fire, I have to make sure my entire team is alive and unharmed. On top of that, you must monitor every movement. Bullets must not fall on our settlements.
"Everything here is very serious. One wrong move and the consequences can be fatal. You have to keep absolutely everything under control."
Service in a mobile fire group is not only about combat deployments, but also about strict daily training
Photo: Liudmyla Lysenko
According to Liudmyla, skills gained in civilian life can become critically important in service. For instance, her knowledge of geography proved useful particularly the ability to navigate with a compass and calculate an azimuth (the horizontal angle of a particular direction).
"Physical training is a separate matter," says the pastry chef. "You constantly have to work on your endurance and fitness. We have women with different levels of training, but the main thing is the willingness to improve, to train and to be useful."
"I cannot simply fly like a butterfly and care only about the flowers on a cake when there is a war all around us"
After a difficult shift, Liudmyla returns home and swaps her weapon for an apron. For several years now, she has been passionate about pastry-making and bakes custom cakes to order.
"After my children were born, I decided to try something completely new. It all began with the reality show Cake Boss, which tells the story of the bakery Carlo's Bake Shop. It was run by a brother and sister who created artistic cakes. I was fascinated by it. That is how I started baking for family and friends. Guests were delighted, and soon the first orders began to come in.
"This work suited me perfectly – I could stay at home with my children while also fulfilling my creative potential."
Liudmyla and a cake she baked herself
Photo: Liudmyla Lysenko
Liudmyla enjoys unusual orders most of all. She likes bringing her clients' boldest ideas to life, whether it is a cake shaped like a book or a skull with smoke rising from its eyes.
"I love sculpting, decorating and thinking through every detail. You also have to calculate where to place the support and whether the structure will hold the weight of the decoration.
Every time a difficult order comes in, my first thought is that it will not work. But as soon as you start, you realise experience takes over and everything is entirely possible," Liudmyla says with a smile.
For Liudmyla, pastry-making is a way to fulfil her creative potential
Photo: Liudmyla Lysenko
Despite her love of baking, she admits it is now difficult to think about growing the business – war sets its own rules.
"I cannot simply fly like a butterfly and care only about flowers on a cake. Of course, there are fewer orders now, and it is impossible to take on too many: service, 24-hour duties and night shifts take a lot of energy. After a sleepless night, it is physically hard to work in the kitchen.
"Today, the most important thing is not to sit idly by, but to help the army. I believe everyone should be preparing to defend. It will not get easier, and our neighbour [Russia], unfortunately, is not going anywhere. So all of us will have to learn how to live in this new reality. The mindset of 'someone else will fight while I sit it out' simply does not work."
"The perspective of finding myself under occupation again frightens me deeply, so I am doing everything I can to prevent it. Perhaps my skills will not be needed tomorrow, but anything can happen, and we have to be prepared. The time has come to be decisive, strong and, at times, uncompromising," Liudmyla says.
