“We need women in the army; if we were in a peaceful situation, I would say we don’t need women in the army because there are enough men, but we are facing war now, so Ukrainian men and women must defend our country” were the words of Sergeant Andrei Vitalyovich, in The 24th Brigade of the Ukrainian Army deployed in Zolote.

The Ukrainian military granted women the right to fight and to take command positions in the army in 2016. Before that, they could work as doctors, nurses, secretaries, seamstresses and cooks, being included in those tasks because Soviet-era rules prevented women from fulfilling roles that could endanger their reproductive health.

Female fighters in the first ranks

The change in policy came after pressure from female veterans such as Olena Belozerska, a sniper who volunteered in several hot spots in the war in eastern Ukraine between 2014 and 2016.

Women have played a pivotal role in confronting Russian forces since 2014, when Moscow decided to annex Crimea and threw its support for separatists in the Donbass region.

Women now make up nearly 10 percent of Ukraine's armed forces, and they work alongside men in combat positions.

Ukrainian women have the same rights as their male counterparts under the 2018 law.

Since 2019, Ukrainian women have been able to study at military colleges and occupy the highest ranks in the armed forces.

Ms. Bibisch, who was recruited in 2017, describes her male comrades in the border guards as fully accepting of her role, and the men treat her normally, as they treat their colleagues.

Bebysh says she sees her motivation to serve as no different from that of male soldiers: "We want to keep Ukraine free."

In the documentary Invisible Battalion, which sparked a wider discussion about the role of women in the military and the needs of female veterans, snipers Belozerska says, "In the first two years of the war, the fighters on the front lines were very surprised when they saw a female fighter."

Belozerska learned her shooting skills in the Kiev forests from her husband, an army veteran who foresaw conflict with Russia a decade ago.

The first time she appeared on the forehead, her male colleagues wondered if she was a doctor.

Today, its reputation precedes it and makes it a regular target of Russians on the Internet.

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has been criticized after the decision to conscript women (European)

Yulia Mikitenko, a reserve officer who joined in 2016 to defend her country in the Russian war in eastern Ukraine, was 21 at the time, and remembers how there were very few women at first, but over time the numbers started to increase.

Mikitenko spent her first year at the military headquarters on the second front line.

She later attended an officer's course for 3 months, after which she received the military rank of "Mechanized Infantry Platoon Commander", and only after that she was allowed to stand in the front lines.

Enlistment in the army for everyone

Last October, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry set the conditions for army registration and a list of professions that can participate in military service.

The order has been criticized for requiring pregnant women and women looking after young children to enlist in the military as well.

In addition, the Ministry has set the maximum age for women at 60, while the Military Commissariat will conduct health checks to determine whether cases can be registered individually.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense also announced that any evasion of military registration, as in the case of men, will be subject to penalties and fines.