Mariya Nikitichna Tsukanova (Russian: Мария Никитична Цуканова; 14 September 1924 – 14 August 1945) was a medical orderly in the 355th Independent Guards Naval Infantry Battalion of the Pacific Fleet during World War II.

When she and the rest of her family that were not yet in the war were relocated to Irkutsk she found work at an aircraft production facility starting in February while taking medical courses in addition to joining the Komsomol.

The battalion saw heavy combat after the start of the Soviet–Japanese War, which began August 9, 1945; several days after the Soviet invasion of Manchukuo, she was part of a landing group to take control of the port of Seishin (present-day Chongjin, North Korea).

Seeking information about the military operations, Japanese soldiers brutally tortured Tsukanova, having gouged out her eyes and cut her with knives before burying her mutilated body.

Streets in Abakan, Barnaul, Fokino, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, and Omsk were named after her in addition to a school and fishing boat.