48-year-old Russian citizen Natalia Zanina from Krasnoyarsk Krai headed the education and youth department of the occupation administration of Kakhovka in the left-bank part of Kherson region. Her son fights against Ukraine on the side of the Russian Federation in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
This was reported by Center for Journalistic Investigations citing occupation media and its own sources.
Before her appointment, Zanina worked for almost a year as the chief specialist of the education and youth department in Kakhovka. Previously she was a cross-country skiing coach at a sports school in the Russian Federation.
According to sources at the Center for Journalistic Investigations, she was invited to Kakhovka by fellow countryman Serhiy Bakhtin, who previously headed the education department and now works at the youth center “Patriot”.
According to Zanina herself, she moved to Kakhovka in December 2024 to be closer to her son. Ihor Zanin serves in the Russian Airborne Forces and has been fighting in the Kherson region since 2023.
Natalia’s husband, Vasyl Zanin, was previously a long-haul truck driver, now works as a driver in the same education department.
According to occupation media, Natalia Zanina organizes the weaving of camouflage nets for Russian troops in schools and raises money for their needs. With these funds, they purchased a vehicle “Niva”, which was handed over to the occupiers on the Zaporizhzhia direction.