Maria Volodymyrivna "Marichka" Padalko (Ukrainian: Марія Володимирівна Падалко, born 26 February 1976) is a Ukrainian television journalist, well known for her feminist opinions.^[1][2] She is married to Ukrainian politician Yehor Soboliev with whom she has three children.^[3]

She was born in Kyiv on February 26, 1976. Her father is an English translator and her mother is a foreign language teacher. Graduated from a specialized language school.^[4]

She is a linguist by training.^[5] In 1998, she graduated from Kyiv Linguistic University with a degree in English and German.^{[citation needed]}

As a student, she studied at the University of Florida's School of Journalism under the U.S. Government's Freedom Support Act exchange program.^{[citation needed]} It was there that she gained her first journalistic experience at a local newspaper. In 1999, she spent several months interning at the BBC Ukrainian Service in London. In October 1999, she made her first appearance on television.^{[citation needed]}