‘We have to prove ourselves all the time’: Ukrainian women fighting Russia

The number of women in the Ukrainian army has nearly doubled in the past five years.

The presence of elite female snipers, artillery soldiers and combat tank crews is increasingly commonplace, but women still have to fight for their place in a very masculine universe.

“Women are treated more prudently, while a man in a combat position automatically earns respect,” says Marina Moloshna. “A woman is constantly forced to prove her worth, to prove that she will not let men down, that she is reliable.”

A member of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Moloshna spoke to the BBC when carrying out combat missions in the Kharkiv region.

After the Russian invasion of the country, she went to the front lines as a volunteer – she says she wanted to do more to protect her country and would feel guilty if she left Mariupol, where she worked as a journalist before the war.

The coastal town in southeastern Ukraine was the scene of heavy fighting for months before it fell to the Russians.

She feels confident in her new role, although she admits that being a soldier in the Ukrainian army is still not easy.

In five years, the number of women nearly doubled to 40,000 — more than 5,000 on the front lines — according to military sources.

Despite the increase in the female presence, which has gained visibility and acceptance among Ukrainian society, a series of problems persist, from equipment designed only for men to occasional episodes of machismo.

Oksana Grigorieva, adviser on gender issues at the Ukrainian Ground Forces Command, says that for a long time during the post-Soviet period, the Armed Forces were very masculine, rigid, until they started to become more fair and egalitarian.

“Now women can really prove themselves.”

Officers, tank crews and artillery soldiers

The role of women in the Ukrainian army has changed significantly over the past 15 years, not only in quantitative terms but also in qualitative terms, points out Oleksii Melnik of the think tank Ukrainian Razumkov Center.

Previously, women were mainly placed in positions outside combat areas, as telephone operators, typists, cooks or doctors, for example.

That changed with the outbreak of war in the Donbass region in 2014, when for the first time women fought in volunteer battalions in large numbers. Given the nature of the situation — the invasion of Donbass by Russia opened the escalation of tension that culminated in the war between the countries in 2022 —, the military bureaucracy was often left aside.

“There were some cases where women fought in the artillery, when they had originally been registered as cooks or typists at headquarters,” recalls Melnik.

Only in 2018 were some of the restrictions on the presence of women in the Army legally lifted. From there, they were able to take on combat roles and receive training on equal terms with men.

Now women are fighting as platoon commanders, in artillery batteries and in unmanned aviation units, said the commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Serhii Naev.

According to him, more than 8,000 women hold officer positions, including Brigadier General Tetiana Ostashchenko, commander of the medical forces, who became the country’s first female general in 2021.

“There are many women in positions of power,” points out Grigorieva. “Weapons commanders, platoon commanders, lots of female snipers. There’s even a deep-sea diving instructor.”

“There are many women among tank crews. They are more agile and smaller than men, it is even more comfortable for them than for men to be in this type of vehicle”, she says.

Women in combat positions tend to be psychologically more stable than men and more empathetic and sensitive in teamwork and relationships with colleagues, adds Grigorieva.

public perception

Society’s view of the presence of women in the Armed Forces has also changed in Ukraine.

Tamara Martseniuk, a sociologist and gender researcher at the Kiiv-Mohyla Academy, cites a 2018 Kiev International Institute of Sociology (KMIS) study that found that 53% of Ukrainians supported the institution of equal rights and opportunities for military men and women.

Four years later, that percentage had risen to 80%, according to research agency InfoSapiens.

Martseniuk believes that eight years of conflict in Ukraine — from the war in Donbass to the invasion of the territory by Russia in 2022 — helped to build a positive image about the female presence in the Army, as well as the perception that it would be necessary to mobilize as many citizens as possible to counter the offensive.

Military service ‘not for everyone’

The advancement of recruitment for military service began even before the invasion, at the end of 2021, when the Ministry of Defense published a list of professions that should enlist in the Armed Forces.

The initiative generated criticism for including a series of activities that are not routinely directly linked to the military universe, such as IT specialists, journalists, musicians, hoteliers and publicists.

There are stories of Ukrainians who lived abroad and would have stopped returning home because of the measure.

Anna, a psychologist from Kiev who has lived with her daughter in Austria since the start of the Russian invasion, says she has put off returning to her country because of the risk of being suddenly recruited.

“It’s not that I was afraid of joining the Army, but I wanted certainty, clear procedures”, he explains. “If we take mothers away from young children, we won’t create a normal generation,” he adds. “We have to play the game for the long haul — the nation depends on women who pass the culture on to their children.”

In response to criticism, the Ministry of Defense had postponed the compulsory enlistment of women until October 1, 2022 and significantly reduced the list of professions. When the date arrived, recruitment was postponed for another year and became exclusively voluntary, except for female doctors.

Figures like Mariana Bezugla, for example, who is deputy head of the National Security, Defense and Intelligence Committee, disagree.

“The issue of gender equality is not just equal rights and opportunities, but also equal responsibilities. There must be no division of citizens. If voluntary conscription is implemented, then it must apply to both men and women,” she says. , who voted against voluntary registration.

‘Exception to the rule’

The greater presence of women in the military does not mean, however, that they are always treated equally.

Marina Moloshna says she was unpleasantly surprised by the attitude of her battalion command towards women.

“We’re not talking about any NATO standard,” he points out, referring to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a military alliance that brings together the United States and European countries, among others. “Often we come across machismo, some of the commanders even humiliate women.”

Army structures are also very masculine: women have to wear men’s uniforms, don’t have access to women’s underwear or thermals, and have trouble finding boots that are small in size.

They also need to buy their own feminine hygiene items, like pads, says Moloshna.

“Thousands of female soldiers regularly approach us reporting these problems,” says Ksenia Draganyuk, co-founder of the non-governmental organization Zemliachki, which helps women in the military.

The NGO provides underwear – both traditional and thermal –, uniforms, body armor plates, helmets, hygiene products and first aid kits designed specifically for women.

“When you go to the gym, you want comfortable clothes for running, lifting weights. When you’re on the front line, this is a matter of safety”, he points out.

The organization also offers psychological assistance — both for those who are in active military action, and for women who have to deal with episodes of machismo. Ukrainian military officials say they recognize these problems and promise change.

In July, the BBC learned that a special military uniform for women was in development, but it was unclear when it would be available.

“Not all NATO countries have women’s uniforms, in the United States they began to be developed only in 2009,” notes Oksana Grygorieva, who believes that Ukraine is making rapid progress in this area.

She says the Armed Forces are working to combat the problems and raise awareness among the military, and she stresses that women should report cases of harassment or discrimination by contacting their immediate supervisor, a gender consultant or using the Ministry of Justice’s hotline. Defense.

Grigorieva says she has received only two complaints since taking office on Feb. 1 — one about discrimination and one about harassment. Both, according to her, were investigated.

“I encourage women to speak up, we will help. The commander will be afraid to harass or discriminate if he knows he will be punished – it could be a reprimand or demotion.”

The more women there are in the Ukrainian army, the faster the changes will be, says Moloshna.

“There will be more equality and less discrimination,” he adds.

“Because so far there aren’t many of us here, especially in combat positions. There are more than a few years ago, but a woman in the Army is still often seen as the exception to the rule.”

This text was originally published here.