Female soldiers in high heels during a queue spark a wave of sarcasm in Ukraine
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Ukrainian authorities have found themselves in a particularly disillusioned position after official photos surfaced of female soldiers at a military parade wearing heels.
The images emerged as the country prepares to stage a military parade next month to celebrate 30 years of independence following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
On Friday, the Ministry of Defense published pictures of female soldiers walking in black medium-heeled shoes.
"Today, for the first time, training is taking place with heels," the Ministry of Defense Information website quoted trainee Ivana Medved as saying.
"It's a little more difficult than in army boots, but we're trying," Medved said in comments published on Thursday.
Several Ukrainian lawmakers close to former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko appeared in parliament wearing pairs of heels in blatant mockery of the government, urging the defense minister to wear high heels during the Independence Day army parade.
“It is hard to imagine an idea more ridiculous and harmful than this,” says Ina Sofson, a member of the Golos party, referring to the health risks that wearing the shoe poses to female soldiers.
She also said that women enlisted in Ukraine - like men - risk their lives and "do not deserve ridicule".
The deputy speaker of the legislature, Olena Kondratyuk, says the authorities should publicly apologize for the "humiliation" of women and conduct an investigation.
Kondratyuk said more than 13,500 women have fought in the current conflict.
More than 31,000 women now serve in the Ukrainian armed forces, including more than 4,000 female officers.
The choice of shoes sparked a torrent of criticism on social media and in Parliament, and the government was criticized for exposing female soldiers to sexual harassment.
"The question of the military parade in heels is a real shame," commentator Vitaly Bortnikov said on Facebook, arguing that some Ukrainian officials have a "medieval" mentality.
Another commentator, Maria Shapranova, accused the Ministry of Defense of "sexism and misogyny."
"High heels are a mockery of women imposed by the beauty industry," she wrote.
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