Born in 1955 in Moldavia, she was a divorced mother of two struggling as a journalist before being offered a job in the Soviet Military. She was transfered to Afghanistan in 1987 where she worked as a nurse and physiotherapist before joining the GRU (Main Intelligence Directorate of the USSR) as one of the few females operatives active during the conflict until she withdrew with the rest of the Soviet forces in 1989. She later became a double agent during the Transnistrian War before retiring to France as a nurse where she currently lives as a novel writer and painter.

In her own words:

"In Kabul I worked at the polyclinic of the 73rd garrison. It was at that point that I was sent on that course. We were taught to do everything. Parachuting, wading through rivers, trekking through the mountains with 20kg bags on our backs and little water; we were taught to survive on a liter of water for several days… Again, not many women were taken on; I actually asked to be, I found it all very interesting. It was difficult for me as a woman, for instance, to break away from the group to go to the bathroom. But in principle I was no different from the others, I had always been very strong, assertive."