On the eve of the invasion of Ukraine, there were around 31,000 servicewomen and female MOD employees in the Ukrainian armed forces. This represented around 15% of the total force with one in ten serving as officers (but rarely above major rank). Following Soviet-era practice, servicewomen were mainly restricted to non-combat roles such as medical staff and clerks. The neglect of servicewomen was such that there were no female-standard uniforms on issue, a deficit addressed in typical Ukrainian fashion by volunteers such as the Arm Women Now project that enlisted help to sew uniforms more compatible with the female body shape. How has the war changed this? There are a lot more Ukrainian female soldiers now:
Post the invasion restrictions were eventually lifted with women able to serve in any branch, subject to selection procedures. The age limit for women enlisting was also raised to 60, matching that of men. However, compulsory mobilisation remained only for males. This meant all women enlisting were, and today continue to be, volunteers.
At first, recruitment was slow, mainly due to a lack of organisation and opportunities. Many found employment through 'private' recruiting (units posting job applications), rather than centralised recruiting through MOD schemes. By October 2023, female volunteer numbers had jumped 40%. But this only added another 12,000 servicewomen, bringing the total to 43,000 after two years of war.
By March 2024, the numbers had risen to 62,000, including 5,000 in officer posts, and with 10,000 serving in active combat zones. By this point, 14,000 servicewomen in total had qualified as 'participants in hostilities' (effectively 'veteran' status for which there is a financial benefit). In the summer, the number rose to 67,000, but with clarification, 19,000 were 'employees with non-military tasks'. By the end of 2024, the number had stabilised around the 68,000 mark where it stands at the time of writing.
The opening of over 40 nationwide recruitment centres - a programme which only started a year ago - has helped boost numbers. Today, roughly one in five applicants at the recruitment centres are women. The roles they fill are tabulated below:
Female applicants at recruitment centres and roles assigned
Staff positions
24%
Combat medics, doctors and nurses
22%
Drone units
13%
Chefs
12%
Snipers (shooting specialists)
6%
Communications and Cyber
6%
Psychologists
3%
Examples of frontline service have been varied. In March 2024, the first all-female drone unit was raised. Tetyana Bondarenko was a theatre actress before the war. Today she is call sign 'Bond' (after 007) and an expert drone pilot. Layla, call sign Saratsyn, a former IT worker with striking red dreadlocks, now commands a drone strike unit. Olga Yehorova - a keen sportswoman before the war - is an example of female sniper. She has been wounded twice, once catching shell splinters in her stomach ('the pain became unbearable' she remembered), and on a second occasion receiving a bloodied eye from a shell blast. Liudmyla Meniuk joined 24th Aidar Separate Assault Battalion in 2016 and eventually progressed from clerk, to chief sergeant of an assault company, to commander of an armoured service unit. Some have achieved fame: in November 2024 soldier Natalia Hrabarchuk downed a cruise missile with a MANPADs. Before the war she was a kindergarten teacher. This was her first launch.
From left to right, and top to bottom: Sniper Olga Yehorova, theatre actress now drone pilot Tetyana Bondarenko, Commander of Armoured Service Unit Liudmyla Meniuk, and former IT worker today strike drone platoon commander Layla.
Former kindergarten teacher Natalia Hrabarchuk downs a cruise missile with a MANPADs then falls to her knees with the realisation of what she has just achieved. Source: United 24 Media
It is not all about the frontline. Servicewomen also serve in the GUR and SBU (Intelligence Directorate and Security Service) where they have been praised for their ...
Post the invasion restrictions were eventually lifted with women able to serve in any branch, subject to selection procedures. The age limit for women enlisting was also raised to 60, matching that of men. However, compulsory mobilisation remained only for males. This meant all women enlisting were, and today continue to be, volunteers.
At first, recruitment was slow, mainly due to a lack of organisation and opportunities. Many found employment through 'private' recruiting (units posting job applications), rather than centralised recruiting through MOD schemes. By October 2023, female volunteer numbers had jumped 40%. But this only added another 12,000 servicewomen, bringing the total to 43,000 after two years of war.
By March 2024, the numbers had risen to 62,000, including 5,000 in officer posts, and with 10,000 serving in active combat zones. By this point, 14,000 servicewomen in total had qualified as 'participants in hostilities' (effectively 'veteran' status for which there is a financial benefit). In the summer, the number rose to 67,000, but with clarification, 19,000 were 'employees with non-military tasks'. By the end of 2024, the number had stabilised around the 68,000 mark where it stands at the time of writing.
The opening of over 40 nationwide recruitment centres - a programme which only started a year ago - has helped boost numbers. Today, roughly one in five applicants at the recruitment centres are women. The roles they fill are tabulated below:
Female applicants at recruitment centres and roles assigned
Staff positions
24%
Combat medics, doctors and nurses
22%
Drone units
13%
Chefs
12%
Snipers (shooting specialists)
6%
Communications and Cyber
6%
Psychologists
3%
Examples of frontline service have been varied. In March 2024, the first all-female drone unit was raised. Tetyana Bondarenko was a theatre actress before the war. Today she is call sign 'Bond' (after 007) and an expert drone pilot. Layla, call sign Saratsyn, a former IT worker with striking red dreadlocks, now commands a drone strike unit. Olga Yehorova - a keen sportswoman before the war - is an example of female sniper. She has been wounded twice, once catching shell splinters in her stomach ('the pain became unbearable' she remembered), and on a second occasion receiving a bloodied eye from a shell blast. Liudmyla Meniuk joined 24th Aidar Separate Assault Battalion in 2016 and eventually progressed from clerk, to chief sergeant of an assault company, to commander of an armoured service unit. Some have achieved fame: in November 2024 soldier Natalia Hrabarchuk downed a cruise missile with a MANPADs. Before the war she was a kindergarten teacher. This was her first launch.
From left to right, and top to bottom: Sniper Olga Yehorova, theatre actress now drone pilot Tetyana Bondarenko, Commander of Armoured Service Unit Liudmyla Meniuk, and former IT worker today strike drone platoon commander Layla.
Former kindergarten teacher Natalia Hrabarchuk downs a cruise missile with a MANPADs then falls to her knees with the realisation of what she has just achieved. Source: United 24 Media
It is not all about the frontline. Servicewomen also serve in the GUR and SBU (Intelligence Directorate and Security Service) where they have been praised for their ...
Activity