The diaries of Diana Savita Wagner, a combat medic from Germany, to be published

A Ukrainian publisher is preparing to release the frontline diaries of Diana Savita Wagner (call sign Snake), a German volunteer in the International Legion and combat medic with the Oleh Kutsyn Carpathian Sich Battalion, fallen on the front lines in early 2024.

According to Ukrainian publisher Oleksandr Savchuk, he met Wagner’s family in 2024 during the Frankfurt Book Fair, where the publishing house was present thanks to the Chytomo Award. There, Ursula Wagner, the mother of the fallen soldier, approached Savchuk with a suggestion to publish her daughter’s diary entries.

“Thanks to the 2024 Chytomo Award, our publishing house got to participate in the Frankfurt Book Fair, where we met Wagner’s mother. The diaries turned out to be extremely interesting and well illustrated. Savita explains why she decided to come to Ukraine, and why she went so close to ground zero, even though she had the opportunity to choose a more rear-line position,” said Savchuk.

The book was compiled by Karl, the husband of the deceased soldier. The diaries have now been translated into Ukrainian and are being prepared for publication. 

“Savita’s profound existential reflections and incredible empathy give rise to powerful texts, the texts of a European who became Ukrainian,” said Savchuk.

The diaries were translated from English into Ukrainian by Ingvar Martin and Diana Sheludkevych. The editors are Ursula Wagner, Karl Stenerud, and Oleksandr Savchuk.

“In my opinion, this is an extremely important text. Its significance lies not only in its reflections on war, military action, and the situation in which the modern world finds itself, but also in its profound thoughts on the relationships between Russia and Ukraine, Ukraine and Europe, Ukraine and the US, and Europe and Russia. The personal component is also worth noting. The middle part of the diary entries reveals a family history that explains Savita’s decision to first join volunteer activities and then become a combat medic — at the beginning of the text, these motives are not obvious, but over time they acquire a clear and emotionally motivated explanation,” emphasized Savchuk.

The publisher emphasized that all original illustrations in the manuscript will be preserved in the Ukrainian edition. The release was scheduled for the end of May 2026, ahead of the Book Arsenal book festival.

“This will set our book apart from the German edition because the German publisher is releasing only the text without illustrations,” Savchuk added.

According to the publisher, Wagner’s diary is not only a testimony to the war from within. It is also her candid reflections as a European on Ukraine and the Western world. The text will be published for the first time in Ukrainian, translated from English based on the manuscript “Savita Wagner: A German Angel in Ukraine.”

Diana Savita Wagner was a German woman with the call sign Snake, a combat medic in the Carpathian Sich battalion, who came to Ukraine in March 2022 as a volunteer and, after what she saw in Bucha and Irpin, joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine. She died on Jan. 31, 2024, near the town of Svatove in the Luhansk region, while trying to rescue wounded soldiers.

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Main image: Deutschlandradio 

Copy editing: Joy Tataryn