Military statistics: there are 5 thousand Ukrainian military women in the combat zone, and in total there are 62,000 women in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (video)

After the start of a full-scale war with Russia, the number of women in the Ukrainian army increased significantly.

In October 2023, 62 thousand women are a full-fledged part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, or 7.3% of the total number of troops, according to Military Media Center. Moreover, 5.3%, or 43,479 women, are military personnel. Among them:

• officers – 7709 people;
• non-commissioned officers – 11,732;
• soldiers – 22,704;
• cadets – 1334.

According to the Military Media Center, 18,583 women are civilian personnel. There are 5,160 women in leadership positions in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and 13,487 military personnel have received combat status.

There are now more than 5 thousand women in the combat area. For comparison: in 2014, the total number of women in the Armed Forces of Ukraine was 49,926, of which 16,557 were military personnel. Deputy Minister of Defense Natalya Kalmykova noted:

“Currently, on the battlefield in Ukraine, we have the largest number of women in recent world history. They are showing themselves not only as good military financiers or doctors, but also as brave servicemen, loyally defending their Motherland.”

Since 2018, writes DW, women in Ukraine can hold positions at the front. At the same time, they still face discrimination. When the full-scale war began, 28-year-old Yulia Mikitenko already had the rank of officer. She joined the army in 2016 – she wanted to fight in intelligence, but was refused because of her gender. After serving at the headquarters, Yulia took courses and received the rank of junior lieutenant. “But when I was appointed commander of a reconnaissance platoon, 80% of the people serving there transferred. Simply because the commander was a woman,” recalls Yulia, who now leads an aerial reconnaissance platoon in the Donetsk region. And there are many such examples.

Women have been joining the service at the front since 2014, recalls Anna Gritsenko, a researcher at the public organization Invisible Battalion. “But most of the positions at the front were closed to them. They performed these duties without any formalization and, accordingly, without payments and subsequent social guarantees. Or they were assigned to non-combat positions – cooks, seamstresses, field bathhouse managers. This meant that if wounded, it is difficult to explain why she was on the battlefield in the first place,” says Anna. This problem was brought to the attention of soldier Maria Berlinskaya, who in 2015 initiated the creation of the “Invisible Battalion.” The organization conducts research about women in the military, highlights problems and seeks solutions to them.

Under public pressure, in 2018, at the legislative level, women were allowed to occupy combat positions. A few months after this, while seeking a position as a tanker, Valiko Korobkadze received several refusals and was forced to go to the military registration and enlistment office in another city. Eventually she was accepted into the service. “Later they told me that on the day I arrived, a rumor went around the battalion: “A woman will come to the car.” But my colleagues understood my enthusiasm from the very beginning. By my behavior I showed that I am a team person and can lend a shoulder “.

“Formally, all combat positions are available to women. Informally, of course, they need to be achieved. That is, this problem exists, and now it can only be solved individually,” says Anna Gritsenko.

“As long as there is no shortage of fighters, your desire to serve is perceived as a whim,” adds Lesya Ganzha. “That is, men are not asked if they want to. Is this a trip on an excursion? You just have to constantly strive to have the same attitude toward you.” , like other fighters.”

In their latest report, the Invisible Battalion researchers note a positive development – an increase in officer ranks among women. If in 2014 about 1,600 female officers served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, now there are more than 5,000. In addition, in 2021, a service member of the Armed Forces of Ukraine received the rank of general for the first time – it was awarded to the commander of the Medical Forces, Tatyana Ostashchenko.

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