In Ukraine, since 2014, women have taken their place in the army

Adriana Arkta is part of a unit that operates near the Russian front line. This Wednesday, April 5, in a private clinic in Kyiv, a 35-year-old woman recovered after being severely wounded in December 2022 in the Kherson region. While traveling to the province from where the Kremlin’s army had come out, his car ran over a mine. During the explosion, fragments of shrapnel hit the spine, head, ribs, as well as the arm with a long scar. “More difficult than expected, he said thoughtfully It’s like being in a hospital when your brothers are on the front lines. »

The soldier in a wheelchair, with an external fixator on his arm, is a veteran of the 2014 Donbas war and a figurehead in the fight for women’s rights in his country’s army. According to Deputy Defense Minister Hana Maliar, Adriana Arekhta is one of 41,000 women serving in the army, 5,000 of whom are directly deployed in combat positions. The latter also lists 19,000 others “Civilian employees for the needs of the army”.

For Hana Maliar, Ukraine, “Women have the same opportunity to flourish in military careers as men.” The observation was shared by Christina (who declined to give her last name), a member of military intelligence stationed around the town of Bakhmut in the east of the country. According to the 29-year-old young woman, she met him in a cafe in Kyiv one day before leaving for Donbass. “There is no division between men’s and women’s jobs. There are characteristics that can be applied to all jobs.”

In 2014, when pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych left the country after the Maidan revolution, Crimea was annexed by Russia and a war broke out in the east of the country between pro-Russian separatists backed by Moscow and forces in Kiev. at this time, “Women were not welcome in the army” He recognizes Christina. For those who want to defend their country with a gun in hand, the solution is to join the volunteer battalions. After striking the Maidan sidewalk with others, Adriana Arekhta joined the Aidar Volunteer Battalion because she was “It’s hard to get into the regular army,” He says today.

At that time, Ukrainian law did not allow women in the regular armed forces to be assigned to combat positions. The situation that sociologist Hana Hrytsenko explains A “Post-Soviet concept” An army that sent women to jobs in communication, maintenance or even administration. “In fact, women went into combat positions, explains the Ukrainian researcher, specialist in gender equality issues. But they were either unofficially stationed at these positions, or were in combat positions and were listed in other activities. »