Description
Russia’s mass invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 prompted tens of thousands of Ukrainian women to join the armed forces, continuing a process that began with the start of the war in the Donbas region in 2014. In addition to making significant contributions to the war effort over the past decade, women in uniform have been used by successive governments in Kyiv as symbols of the country’s commitment to Western, liberal values, especially gender equality, as Ukraine has sought closer ties with NATO and the European Union. At the same time, civilian women have played an important role in developing and implementing reform measures designed to address deep-seated corruption in the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence. This paper explores the image and reality of “women’s work” in the armed forces of Ukraine in the midst of war.
