On the front lines just outside Bakhmut, Ukraine, a 32-year-old commander of a Ukrainian artillery platoon rocked back and forth in the passenger seat of a battered Lada as another soldier drove the car through a dense forest, sometimes mowing down young trees. When they reached their destination, a small village less than two miles from the Russian lines, all that remained were ruined houses, their broken roofs visible in the moonlight.
The commander, a female soldier using the call sign Witch, is a former lawyer who, along with two of her brothers and her mother, joined the army the day after Russia invaded in February 2022. Her first experience in combat he was on the outskirts of Kiev that year, and much of what he has learned about weapons systems since then is self-taught and on the fly.
As of early 2023, Witch is with her platoon in the 241st Brigade in the area around Bakhmut, overseeing all artillery systems. She is determined to stay in the army even if the war ends. “People who want to join the armed forces need to understand that it’s a way of life,” he said.
As Ukraine struggles against fierce Russian attacks and its casualties mount, there has been a surge of women enlisting and increasingly volunteering for combat roles. The Ukrainian military has also made a concerted effort to recruit more women to fill its ranks.
About 65,000 women currently serve in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, an increase of about 30% since the start of the war. About 45,000 serve as military personnel and the rest hold civilian positions, according to the defense ministry. Just over 4,000 are in combat positions.
Unlike Ukrainian men, there is no mandatory plan for women. However, women who have degrees in medicine or pharmacy must register for the service.
These women occupy an increasing number of positions in the military: combat medics in assault units; senior gunners; snipers; commanders of tank units and artillery batteries; and at least one co-pilot in a medevac team who dreams of becoming Ukraine’s first female combat helicopter pilot. Dozens have been injured in the fighting and some have been killed or captured.
Along the front lines, they operate under the same blanket of fear and hardship as male soldiers. In the mountain, fortified retreat where the Witch and one of her mortar teams spent most of their days, they waited in near-darkness underground. Turning on the lights would mean the crew couldn’t quickly adjust their eyes to the dark if they had to go out and fire.
Further north, a commander with the call sign Tesla, a former Ukrainian folk singer, sat hunched over a stool in the bare house that served as field headquarters for the 32nd Mechanized Brigade. Russian forces in the Kupiansk area were sending artillery barrages into the Ukrainian lines.
Tesla was simultaneously sending texts and voice memos to the soldiers in her unit while talking to the second-in-command about the battlefield plan. Her big pants were rolled up, revealing neon orange socks with cartoon avocados on them.
He was trying to redirect Russian fire to a different battalion in place of his own soldiers so that the other unit could evacuate a comrade who had been seriously wounded. “Three tourniquets on three different ends,” the information came in a voicemail, he said.
“Send one more,” Tesla ordered in a voice memo, ordering her soldiers to fire again. “When you’re done, let me know.”
Shortly after a Russian offensive began in October, overwhelming Ukrainian lines, 24 of her artillery-trained soldiers were ordered to reinforce infantry troops, which are always closer to Russian lines. Tesla spoke to them before they deployed, feeling helpless.
“The worst thing is that I instructed them on completely different things in the artillery and then they are sent to the infantry,” he said. “And, imagine, they’re standing there looking at you as their commander, knowing they’re going to be sent into the worst possible situation.”
Of the 24 sent, 15 were wounded, Tesla said, and one was captured in the fighting. The incident stuck in Tesla’s mind, but she kept her concerns to herself. Her mother did not yet know that Tesla was driving an artillery battery, thinking that her daughter was working as an instructor at an academy, a safe distance from the front.
Until 2018, women were prohibited from holding combat positions in the Ukrainian military, although few ignored the rules. Restrictions have been eased since the Russian invasion. Enlisting thousands more women in the military has been widely seen as a welcome step for the country, whose efforts to join NATO and the European Union are still under consideration.
The downside is that the military could not adapt quickly enough to accommodate them. Female soldiers say there is still a dire shortage of women’s clothing and boots, properly fitted body armor and feminine hygiene products. This leaves women to acquire many items on their own.
As a result, organizations like Veteranka and Zemliachky have helped fill the gap by raising money to provide items tailored to women.
But the problems go deeper, in terms of inequality and gender discrimination.
Many women serving in combat roles said male soldiers and immediate superiors largely did not discriminate on the basis of gender — although sexually suggestive and inappropriate comments still occur.
Rather, it is senior commanders, often holdovers from the Soviet era, who look down on women in the military, especially those in combat roles. In some cases, women choose to join newly formed brigades with younger, more dynamic commanders.
“I didn’t want to join a brigade that was established many years ago because I knew I wouldn’t be listened to as a young officer and as a woman,” Tesla said.
In one case, a brigade commander was so incensed by a woman commanding an artillery battery that he cut her down directly. “You’ll be crawling back to me on your knees begging me to leave when you realize the job is too hard and I won’t allow you to leave your post,” she remembers him saying, requesting anonymity to speak candidly about a sensitive subject. .
Allegations of sexual harassment have also surfaced. According to some women, there have been no official channels for reporting harassment other than battalion commanders, who must then decide whether to follow through. In some cases, female soldiers said, witnesses may refuse to testify for fear of repercussions.
Those obstacles, as well as the possibility of damaging their military careers, discourage women from reporting harassment, female soldiers said.
Diana Davitian, a spokeswoman for the Department of Defense, said that on Jan. 1, the military opened a hotline where soldiers can report sexual harassment. The reports will be investigated, he said, and action will be taken if the allegations are found to be true.
The ministry also said it plans to create a separate unit dedicated to ensuring gender equality and providing training programs, including one focused on combating war-related sexual violence.
Back in the basement, Tesla received a call from command post: It was time for a fire. The team entered a partially covered courtyard a few meters away, where a mortar barrel was prepared.
There was silence as Kuzya, 20, a senior gunner with the mortar platoon, peered through the scope and read the coordinates on her phone. “Fire!” someone shouted. Several more rounds were fired before the team reentered the basement, awaiting a possible return from the Russians.
Only months earlier, Kuzya’s friend was killed in the fighting. She and Witch, who has a 7-year-old son whom she has barely seen in the past year, seemed to find comfort in each other’s company. The two women trained at the same judo club in Kiev, the capital, and the day after the invasion they went together to the conscription office to register.
For many women, war and the desire to fight is something they have been preparing for for years. Foxy, 24, a former barista turned soldier and medic, volunteered to make camouflage nets after school throughout her teenage years before working with wounded veterans. He joined the army last year after weeks of training.
The battalion commander gave her two options: “You’re a woman. You can work on documents or cook borscht,” recalls Foxy. “I had no choice but to handle the paperwork until I changed battalions.”
She then joined a mortar team in some of the most intense frontline battles in Bahamut and was treated as an equal by her team. “While I faced a certain amount of sexism early on,” she said, “I feel like I don’t have to prove anything or convince anyone of what I can do.”
That’s a sentiment echoed by Katerina, 21, a lieutenant and pilot of an Mi-8 medical evacuation helicopter. Kateryna has yet to fly her first medevac mission, but hopes to become Ukraine’s first female combat pilot.
Ukrainian society is also gradually overcoming its skepticism about women serving in the military. For now, it is up to the new generation of women and their allies who will also be in a better position to deal with discrimination and sexual harassment.
Evelina Ryabenko contributed to the report.
