Daria will be forever 19.
Jocelyn and I have met many graduating Grade 11 students in Ukraine. They look forward to attending University and pursuing their dreams. At 17, they seem so young.
Who comes to mind when you think of 17-year-olds? Our eldest granddaughter is three years shy of 17.
This is another story of a teenager who is the face of Ukraine. Please read to the end and join the conversation.
At 17
Daria Lopatina was one of those Grade 11 students. She enrolled in KSE University in Kyiv to study Artificial Intelligence. The moment Daria turned 18 in her second year of study she took leave from the University and joined the army.
An extraordinary person and student, she planned to return to her studies after the war. Her classmates say she was kind, bright, and courageous. 
Daria was assigned to the 1st Battalion of the Azov Brigade as an operator in electronic warfare — her dream. She gave the last year of her life to defending Ukraine’s right to independence and to a full life.
Daria, call sign “Delta,” was killed at the front on September 2, 2025. She will always be 19. 
Bright, Kind, Courageous
KSE lecturer Maria Kriuchok recalled how Daria once visited her class – she came to see her former groupmates and told them about the war from the trenches. Kriuchok said she remembered Daria as young, beautiful and strong.
“She knew and understood far more than any of us. Dasha was an incredibly bright, intelligent and outgoing person who taught us so much and showed us a completely different perspective on this world. Despite everything, she devoted the last year of her life to Azov, defending us, Ukraine and our right to live and study here.”
Her comrades wrote, “She always acted immediately, without hesitation or reproach. We will always remember you. You would have done so much for this world. But you are forever 19. Thank you, sister.”
The Ukraine I Know
Tymofiy Mylovanov is the President of the School of Economics (KSE), in Kyiv, where Daria studied. He was the former Minister of the Economy (2019-2020), and Associate Professor at the University of Pittsburg. Tymofiy returned to Ukraine after the war started to start up a University.
He wrote, “I knew Daria. Students like her are the reason I came back to Ukraine, the reason I am building a university. She embodied the Ukraine I imagine — because Ukraine is its people. People like Daria. She was our student at KSE University and chose to join Azov to defend Ukraine. We are incredibly proud of her. And it hurts, unbearably, for me and for all of us.
This time evil won. I will do everything in my power to keep Daria’s memory alive at KSE, to make sure she remains present for us. For now, we feel like she is only absent from the room — as if she stepped out for coffee.
Eternal Memory
As I am writing, I am crying and grieving. Students are crying a grieving. We are searching for strength to turn this pain into something constructive, to live and act in ways that Daria would be proud of, watching us from above.
On September 4th at 9 o’clock, during a minute of silence, students and all of us remembered and honored her. On the first floor of our campus stands her portrait, where students and staff bring flowers.
We will create a scholarship or a professorship in her name. Tell us what more can be done, beyond what we will think of together. I write this as tears cover my desk, my hands slipping on the keyboard. Even the keys seem to be crying. This cursed war.
Eternal memory and honor to a heroine! My deepest condolences to everyone who has lost loved ones or suffered in this and other terrible wars.” 
This is another in s series of stories of war time Ukrainians.
Read about Sergei, Maryna, Vika here and Roma here.
Please share this post. Keep their stories alive. Join the conversation and post a comment below. Thank you.
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