[4] Derusova joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2015 and served as a combat medic with the 58th Independent Motorized Infantry Brigade.

[4] In 2018, Derusova enrolled in Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatiuk National Pedagogical University to study social work, to help the military yet another way.

[12] On 13 March 2022, the Ukrainian government press service posted photos and video of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy visiting a Kyiv military hospital.

[13] Pro-Russian sources such as RT and politician Illia Kyva claimed that the images showed Zelenskyy accompanied by Derusova, who had died in February, thereby proving the visit was pre-recorded or fake.

[14][15] In fact, the woman accompanying Zelenskyy was Ukraine's medical forces commander Brigadier General Tetiana Ostashchenko, as could be read on her uniform.