Ukraine’s only female explosive ordnance disposal diver shares challenges of recovery work, breaking news to relatives

When God himself gives a hint

Tanya was 14 when her friend was drowning in a pond. She rushed to his aid from the shore. She did not know where the feeling came from, what to do and how to do it. She swam up behind him, grabbed him under the armpits and started pulling him out. The rest of her companions rushed to assist her. Fortunately, they saved him together.

Another time, Tanya was vacationing with her friends in the countryside. A five-year-old boy came running to them out of breath. His parents had gone away and left him with his older sister. She went for a walk, and the boy played with matches in the yard until the barn caught fire. The whole gang rushed to put out the fire, which had already spread to the corn in the yard. Along the way, Tanya dialed the emergency services and very clearly, without panic, explained where to go: "Vinnytsia Oblast, Haisyn district, Bondurivka village." While her friends were trying to put out the fire, she kept in touch with the firefighters, told them which street to turn into, and ran out to meet them. They put out the fire and thanked the girl for reacting so quickly in a critical situation.

"After these two stories, I had a feeling that God was giving me a hint: it's your [vocation] to help people. And I decided to become a rescuer," says 23-year-old Tanya Mordach.

Four girls among 80 cadets

She knew that her parents were totally against it as they wanted their daughter to become a doctor. So, without saying anything, she applied to Vinnytsia Vocational School (under the Lviv State University of Life Safety - ed.) There she had to leave her parents' phone number in the application form. And so my mother, who did not suspect anything, received a call and was told: "Your daughter is going to take the exam." Tanya then conspired with her mother not to say anything to her strict father. Her mom agreed, hoping that Tanya would not get in. But she passed. It was not for nothing that she had been preparing for months: she did push-ups and ran 5 kilometers every evening with her shepherd dog.

So the father had no choice but accept his daughter's decision: she would become a firefighter. There were four girls among the 80 cadets. The daily routine is military: wake up at 6 a.m., jog 5-10 km, several formations a day, classes, and only two hours of free time. The discipline is ironclad, and if something goes wrong, they kick you out. Tanya's grades were all "excellent", and she won first place in sports competitions: swimming, athletics, table tennis.

When they graduated, it was time to distribute them to the right places and positions. There was no position for Tanya as a firefighter, so she was offered a job as a radio operator.

"For me, sedentary work, sorting through papers, is [excruciating]," the girl shudders at the unpleasant memories.

And then there was a proposal from the head of the Vinnytsia State Emergency Service for young graduates: who wants to become a diver? The regional team was understaffed. The guys refused, but Tanya was the only one who accepted the challenge.

"I like to test myself in something new. I asked the colonel if I could do it. He was very surprised and asked if I realized how hard the job was, even for a man. He emphasized that you need to undergo special training and have perfect physical health. And also a stable psyche, because you have to master your fear even if it becomes too much for you underwater."

She understood. She passed about 800 psychological tests and knew she was ready. So the mission to save people from fire changed to another one – to pull drowning people out of the water.

Better not to look a drowned man in the eye

During her studies, the mentors used to say: "Wow, your eyes are sparkling." After the course, the girl returned to the Vinnytsia Rescue Service as a full-fledged member of the diving team and began her dives. The first one was under the ice. She says she wasn't worried because another diver on land always keeps her safe. She is connected to him by a signal end - a special rope. Every two minutes they exchange signals: is everything okay? If she suddenly faints, gets injured, or gets tangled up in algae or equipment, the other diver will save her.

I ask her if she is ever scared.

"At first it was a little scary when I went underwater and there was zero visibility. This is the case almost everywhere in our water bodies. Except for the sea. It's scary to find a drowned person. And the worst part of it is the reaction of relatives, not the corpse itself," explains Tetiana.

When divers are called to search, the entire group searches for the drowned. Until someone is "lucky" enough to stumble upon them. In Tanya's two years of work, this happened only once. Relatives reported a 72-year-old man missing. He was fishing on a boat and it capsized.

"Although I was mentally prepared, I still had no idea what it would look like. I was walking along the bottom and suddenly saw arms scattered above me. The drowning man was hanging between the bottom and the surface. I signaled to the top that I had found him. Then I took him as I felt comfortable and went to the surface. I had been warned not to look into the eyes, but I did: they were open. This "cat's eye" (the pupil is deformed and resembles a cat's eye - ed.) scared me. I couldn't sleep at night, but then I calmed down and didn't recall it anymore," says Tanya.

I ask her whether there are happy searches when a person is saved.

"For example, there is a report that someone is missing. And there are witnesses who saw the missing person near a pond. We look for him, but he goes off on a bender somewhere for a few days. I remember a case when a boy got lost. He had a fight with his parents, went to the lake, and his shorts and T-shirt were lying by the water. We were about to leave when we got a call: he was found! He was playing with his friends nearby. But it's not often that you get good news like that. Mostly drownings are confirmed," the girl says.

Searches go beyond the water

Divers are called not only in case of drowning, but also when a person simply disappears. Mostly, when it comes to children.

"Back then, many services worked, including dog handlers. There was a case when a mentally ill girl went missing. We searched for her for two days. It turned out that she had seen a fox hole, wanted to look into it, and stuck her head in. And she got stuck! Fortunately, we found her alive. It's good that fox holes have many exits: there was air coming in, so the fugitive didn't suffocate," the rescuer says.

Most people drown in the summertime, and usually it's children and drunken men. There is a stereotype that someone who is drowning screams and waves his hands. In fact, he doesn't. They sink slowly and quietly to the bottom, so parents should keep an eye on their children. Similarly, you should not believe that you can break the ice with your hands from below. It is impossible.

In addition to searching for drowned people, divers survey and clean the beaches before the swimming season from debris such as broken bottles and sharp stones.

"We don't find anything of value, like treasures, only hardware and old tires," she laughs.

You lie down on the bottom, and fish swim above you

After two years, Tanya took to get profession like a duck to water and absolutely loved it: "When I am underwater, I realize that this is my element." Once she managed to go down to a depth of 20 meters instead of 3.5-5 meters, as usual.

"You lie down on the bottom, and fish swim above you. Such bliss. I dreamed of going to Egypt to see their marine life. I'm not afraid of sharks, they don't eat Ukrainians," we laugh. "But then February 24 happened," Tanya's voice turns sad.

After the full-scale invasion, the divers from the Vinnytsia unit were offered training as sappers, as an underwater demining unit was being created.

"The guys refused, they had good reasons: one of them is getting married, the other has a small child. And I have nothing to lose. And it's interesting to try myself in a new field. But the main thing is that someone needs to do this job," Mordach said and went to study to become an EOD diver in Kharkiv.

She took a short course and is now trained to search for explosives on land and in water, ready for extreme situations. She is the only woman in Ukraine’s State Emergency Service who has this profession.

Tanya has hundreds of descents under her belt, and now the EOD divers train every day. They are waiting for combat missions. On land, they go to neutralize shells and mines from the Second World War.

"For underwater searches, we have a special drone equipped with lights and cameras. Sitting on the shore, I use my phone to connect to it. It moves along the bottom, and I can see what's there. If there are explosives (so far, the newly trained sappers have been practicing on dummies), it can pick up a small mine. But mostly its function is reconnaissance. It does not have metal detectors. An EOD diver moves along the bottom with them. We comb the bottom. And when we find an explosive object, we pull it out with our hands. We bring it to the surface and pass it to our colleagues. They detonate it in a special place," the girl tells us about the specifics of her work. She does not yet know all the types of mines and bombs that the Russians have prepared. But there are so many of them that even experienced sappers don't know.

Her parents tried their best to dissuade their daughter from becoming a sapper. But nothing can be done against such a persistent character. And now Tanya's younger sister is also studying to become a lifeguard.

Now Tanya Mordach, an EOD diver of the Special Emergency Rescue Unit of the State Emergency Service in Vinnytsia Oblast, is waiting for a work trip to the area where the fighting took place:

"I don't know what it will be: mined land, coastline, river bottoms where enemy mines have fallen, but we are ready for the fact that we may be called at any moment. We want to fulfill our missions. I once dreamed of saving people locally during a fire, now my mission is to save people across the country. It is pressing everywhere. We need to save many lives. No one else can do it but us. I like to grow as a person, to set goals and overcome obstacles, but this is different — to help my beloved Ukraine. I want children to run along the roads, play near yards and rivers, so that farmers are not afraid to go into the fields and fishermen are not afraid to fish. I want us all to go on vacation to the sea. I have never been to Crimea, but I want to go to our Crimea next year!"