Maria Serhiivna Berlinska is a Ukrainian public figure and volunteer.
Place of Birth, Education
She was born on May 19, 1988 in the city of Kamianets-Podilskyi in a family of Jewish origin.
Her father, Serhiy Berlinsky, worked as a teacher of history and literature.
In the period from 2009 to 2013, Berlinska studied in absentia at the Faculty of History of Kamianets-Podilskyi National University. In 2011, she entered the Faculty of Correctional and Social Pedagogy and Psychology of the same university.
In 2013, she entered the master’s program at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, but in September 2014 she interrupted her studies.
She completed her master’s degree in 2015 and successfully defended her diploma.
Career
Volunteer Battalion “Aidar”
In August 2014, Berlinska turned to the then volunteer battalion “Aidar” and took aerial reconnaissance courses at the Society for Assistance to the Defense of Ukraine in Kyiv. On September 2, she arrived at the positions where an ambush took place three days later near Vesela Gora.
She was in the Aidar battalion for several weeks, after which she returned to Kyiv.
In 2017, Berlinska completed courses in small aviation.
“Aerial Reconnaissance Support Center”
With the outbreak of hostilities in the east, Berlinsk rejoined the Aidar battalion. She took part in combat operations, engaged in aerial reconnaissance.
In January 2015, teaming up with like-minded people, she founded the Aerial Reconnaissance Support Center.
Full-scale war
After the start of the full-scale invasion, Berlinska focused on volunteer support for Ukrainian fighters. In the same year, she founded the Victory Drones project, which trains operators and developers of tactical-level drones for the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine.
In 2023, she also co-founded the Dignitas Foundation, which specializes in technological assistance to the Ukrainian army.
Community Service
Berlinska is the author and producer of the film “Invisible Battalion”, created with the support of USAID. The goal of the project was to document the participation of Ukrainian women in the war, show their struggles, and refute Russian propaganda about the “civil conflict.”
The volunteer also heads the NGO “Institute of Gender Programs”. Among its tasks is to strengthen the role of women in the security and defense sector, as well as in public life.
In 2018, Berlinska advocated the creation of an organization that would unite veterans, volunteers, and military women involved in the Russian-Ukrainian war. In the summer of the same year, the first Constituent Assembly was held – the “Gathering of Veterans”, which became the beginning of the Women’s Veteran Movement.
