Women in the Ukrainian military

Women in the Ukrainian military[a] have played active roles in the Revolution of Dignity, the war in Donbas, and the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.

[2] Initially restricted to traditional female roles such as nurses and rear echelon radio operators, gradually, after the February 2022 invasion, the Ukraine government introduced rules that allowed women to drive trucks in combat zones, to serve in the infantry as drone operators, machine gunners, or snipers, to become tank commanders and in Ukraine’s special forces.

This was announced by the commander of the ZSU Joint Operational Headquarters Serhii Naiev: "From the first day of the war, women, along with men, have been queuing up at territorial recruitment centres to join the defence of our homeland.

"[7] As of 22 June 2023, Ukrainian women soldiers served in the following military branches: In 2004, the Interior Ministry spokeswoman Tetyana Podashevska [uk] was promoted to the (civilian) rank of major general of the Militsiya (precursor to the current National Police of Ukraine).

"[34] In October 2022, the first all-female prisoner of war exchange occurred between Russia and Ukraine, with 108 Ukrainian women being returned, including 37 who had fought in the Battle of Azovstal.

However, the December 2021 revision of the law regulating Ukraine's military reserves dramatically expanded the number of professions that qualify for mandatory registration with the armed forces.

MP Oleksandra Ustinova stated: "...in [the] current situation, the decision to educate as many people as possible to hold arms and to be ready to serve seems a good one.

[37] In a representative national poll on 3–4 March 2022, 59% of Ukrainian women said they were 'ready to personally participate in the armed resistance to end the Russian occupation of Ukraine.

[39] By mid-March 2022, additional Ukrainian women, after either leaving Ukraine as a refugee or living abroad, had also returned to the country to enlist in the armed forces, or provide support services, such as helping others evacuate.

[45] Sarah Ashton-Cirillo is an American who initially worked as a journalist during the invasion before resigning to enlist as a combat medic in the Ukrainian military, later serving as a spokeswoman for the Territorial Defence Forces.

Women in the Ukrainian military still face significant levels of discrimination and stigma, both formally, until 2019 still being barred from a number of positions, and with provisions like proper uniforms and maternity leave still lacking, and from their fellow soldiers.

[47] One female soldier recounted some of the discrimination she faced to Hromadske.TV in 2019: "I liberated 11 cities, I was involved in prisoner releases, but, nonetheless, most people would say that I am a “Carpathian, who fought in the first months of her pregnancy,” without taking my military experience into account.

[50] As of May 2021, a working group was set up at the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the support of NGOs to form an internal mechanism for responding to sexual harassment.

[52] Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar responded by vowing to help pursue army commanders credibly accused of sexual harassment through the courts.

[52] In July 2021, the Ukrainian military faced criticism after it announced that women soldiers would be marching in high heels in the parade marking 30 years of independence.

[60] Each of them emerged shortly after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022 as social and volunteer initiatives aimed at providing female soldiers in the Ukrainian Armed Forces with military uniforms, underwear, balaclavas and shoes/boots fitting for women, and according to NATO standards (STANAG).

[60] Due to the inconsistency of standard army patterns with the peculiarities of women's bodily constitution, servicewomen were forced to alter men's uniforms to their sizes at their own expense.

[60] The three organisations gathered a lot of clothing and military specialists, conducted many field tests and improved their designs based on the soldiers' feedback and requests, while upscaling their production capacity in cooperation with the regular fashion industry to meet the growing demand.

[60] Similarly, ArmWomenNow began producing more army boots, as women generally have smaller feet than men, but most Ukrainian manufacturers do not make them at small sizes such as 35/36.

[11] Nevertheless, deputy director Svitlana Chunikhina of the Institute of Social and Political Psychology of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine noted that gender stereotypes in society were more difficult to correct than racial and ethnic prejudices.