Mariya Shtepa

Mariya Shtepa (Ukrainian: Марія Степанівна Штепа, 13 March 1925 — 1 June 2020) was a Ukrainian writer who was involved in the Ukrainian War of Independence. In 1942 she became a member of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists.
Biography.
She was born on 13 March 1925 in the village of Romashivka, Chortkiv County, Ternopil Voivodeship, Poland (now Chortkiv Raion Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine). In 1944-46 she was a liaison officer of the armed underground in the Chortkiv region. In 1946, Shtepa was arrested by the KGB and sentenced to 10 years of prison. She was imprisoned in Mordovia and in the Chelyabinsk Oblast region (now Russia).
Since 1969, she lived in Ukraine. On 22 August 2016 she was awarded the Order of Princess Olga of the III degree by the Ukrainian president President Petro Poroshenko. The award was presented by the head of the Ternopil Regional State Administration Stepan Barna.
She died on 1 June 2020 in Chortkiv's Caritas Charitable Foundation, where she had been living.