Yana Zinkevych

For nearly a decade, Yana Zinkevych has been instrumental in saving Ukrainian lives on the front lines. The 28-year-old military veteran is the commander of a Ukrainian civilian medical battalion known as the Hospitallers—not to mention one of the country’s youngest members of parliament. In 2014, when conflict with Russia broke out in eastern Ukraine, Zinkevych was preparing to study medicine. She paused her studies to aid those injured in the fighting, soon founding the Hospitallers to equip others to do the same. Zinkevych herself led over 200 wounded soldiers to safety before being injured in 2015, and under her leadership the group has assisted and evacuated thousands of service people and civilians. But over the course of this year, the Hospitallers have raised more money for their dedicated training center with specialized equipment, where Zinkevych’s team can ready the next generation of volunteer paramedics.

Write to Armani Syed at armani.syed@time.com.