Lana Chornohorska (call sign “Sati”), journalst turned army UAV pilot and navigator, was killed by a Russian drone in Ukraine’s South on 1 January, the Ukrainian Volunteer Army’s Unmanned Aviation Service reported in an Instagram post.
“Sati was a devoted warrior, a person who serves an idea, and a true friend.
“In addition to her work in the army, Sati was an artist, cultural figure, and activist.
“She did multiple jobs in the unit: from preparing drones for combat use to piloting and navigating various UAVs,” the unit said.
Lana was born in Zaporizhzhia, studied in Dnipro, lived in Kyiv, Odesa, Lviv, but especially loved Kharkiv, which she called her city. Before enlisting, she was a journalist with the Kharkiv-based media outlet Lyuk, an activist, and an artist.
Lana was on the Lyuk team in 2020–2021, the media website writes.
“Lana was part of our team, and the word ‘was’ sounds impossible used next to her name. These years of working together and friendship were an incredible adventure with lots of laughter, disputes, shared events and ideas. It is a great luck to have known you and your character, to have learned your immense tenderness when it came to your loved ones, and your sometimes impossible stubbornness when it came to principles,” said Kateryna Pereverzeva, Lyuk‘s co-founder and chief editor.
As reported by Suspilne, Lana Chornohorska joined the Ukrainian Volunteer Army in 2024. She studied for a long time to master drones and finally became a drone operator.
She was also a guest of the Hromadske Radio project “Someone Loves Someone” and Lyuk‘s podcast “Mezhyrichchya”.
The unit said that the details about Lana “Sati” Chornohorska’s funeral would be announced later.
According to the Institute of Mass Information, Lana Chornohorska is the 122nd media worker to die in the course of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the 93rd of those to be killed in action.
