A Two-Front Battle: How Ukrainian Military Women Are Fighting For Equality
Ukrainian military women have played a significant role in defending Ukraine since the beginning of the war in Donbas. But they still face lots of challenges, stigmas.
As of March 2020, 29 760 women were serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF). Among them were 902 senior officers. The latest data from March 2021 shows that women currently constitute 11 per cent of all service members in Ukraine’s Armed Forces, and women constitute 10 per cent of those involved in military operations in Donbas. Since the start of the Russian invasion of Eastern Ukraine in 2014, they have taken on all possible roles in the army and volunteer battalions, serving as paramedics, grenadiers, snipers, machine gunners and more. But this was not the case until a few years ago.