Maria Kirbasova came from a Kalmyk family who were deported to Siberia during the Second World War. They were able to return in 1950s when Khrushchev allowed it. She moved to Moscow where she was an engineer. She was a pacifist buddhist. Her son Petia was drafted to military service in 1988. Kirbassva had vehemently opposed his placement and was an organizer in the protests against the conditions for soldiers serving in the Soviet Army. She was elected chairman of the he Committee of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia. during the conference in April 1991, held with the deputies of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Kirbasova also began protesting against Human rights violations during the Chechen war and by 1995 she was also working for the Rights of Young Russian Conscripts. She attended the Moscow-Grozny Maternal Compassion March.