Lower thirds:
00:02 Report by Mariel Müller
00:33 Sofia Horobchenko | Volunteer chief of staff
00:56 Sofia Horobchenko | Volunteer chief of staff
02:09 Sofia Horobchenko | Volunteer chief of staff
02:27 Sofia Horobchenko | Volunteer chief of staff
03:20 Sofia Horobchenko | Volunteer chief of staff

Script: 
00:02
+++ ATMO (Sofia: "Are you ready?") +++ 
 
00:04
+++ SOT Volunteer (Ukrainian) +++
Readiness two!
 
00:07
+++ SOT Angel (Ukrainian) +++
We’ve been waiting for this. Let's go.
 
+++ ATMO driving +++
 
They’ve just received the alert — Russian drones are incoming.
 
Now, every second counts.
 
00:19
+++ SOT Sofia Horobchenko (Ukrainian)
We have arrived at the position (beep). We are ready to work. +++

00:24 
If they don’t shoot them down, the Shahed drones could hit residential buildings and kill civilians.
 
00:31
+++ SOT Sofia Horobchenko (English)
Closest is 100 plus kilometers from us. First, Shaheds didn’t have cameras. Right now some of them do, so we have to be careful as to they can target us. +++

00:42
By night, she’s part of a team hunting drones. By day, she’s in her university dorm, pursuing a master’s in IT. She never imagined her life would take this turn.
 
00:54
+++ SOT Sofia Horobchenko (English)
At the beginning we were like in shock all of us, because we didn’t realize, maybe we didn’t want to believe that the war will begin in such scale. +++

01:18
It was limmediately clear to her — she had to act.
 
01:12
+++ SOT Sofia Horobchenko (English)
You can’t just sit here and say ‘I can’t influence the situation. That’s not right. You can. Everyone can. +++

01:22
Just days after the full-scale invasion began, she joined a volunteer air defence unit.
 
Sofia became “Mavka” - her call sign - named after a mythical spirit from Ukrainian folklore.
 
01:38
+++ ATMO Scenario +++
 
Their mission isn’t easy. Some of the weapons they use, like this ‘Maxim’ machine gun, invented 140 years ago, are far less accurate than modern systems — of which they have a limited number.
 
Proudly, they show me how they recently shot down a drone.
 
+++ ATMO Shooting +++

02:08
+++ SOT Sofia Horobchenko (English)
Our commanders congratulate us and then it's a moment of glory. A little bit moment of glory. +++

02:16
Over a year ago, Sofia was promoted to Chief of Staff of her entire formation. 
 
02:23
+++ SOT Sofia Horobchenko (English)
At the beginning I didn’t believe in myself as much and I thought that no one would put a woman in such a position. Because mostly it’s men and probably they think they can do more. But in real life not always. +++

02:40
+++ ATMO Air raid alert +++
 
Their outpost in Pereyaslav sits along a major drone flight path to Kyiv, just 100 kilometers away.
 
02:52
+++ SOT Sofia Horobchenko (English)
It’s coming close to Kyiv region, so we hear air alert. +++

02:56
They are ready. But then –
 
+++ ATMO helicopters +++
 
Two Ukrainian helicopters appear, with priority to shoot down the drone. Sofia’s unit gets a no-fire order to avoid hitting them. All they can do now is wait.
 
They admit, their machine guns sometimes feel outdated. So they’re hoping for stronger support from other countries.
 
03:19
+++ SOT Sofia Horobchenko (English)
We have to be powerful to win. And to be powerful, we need more of everything. More rockets, more weapons. Sometimes we think that we are alone that everybody is just looking and doing nothing. It doesn't mean that they do do nothing but we just feel so. +++

03:38
Even though they sometimes feel overlooked, these volunteers say they'll keep doing their part to help save lives.
 
End of text 3:46
End of pix: 3:49