During Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, more and more women are joining the Armed Forces. Currently, 60 thousand of women are defending Ukraine. Inside each of them, there is a lot of courage, resilience, and desire to defend the Motherland. But war is a purely masculine energy and daily dance with death. Extremely difficult conditions, discrimination, and other problems that are still being solved absorbed the female nature.
Researching this topic requires in-depth analysis and communication with many women. I started with my close friend Maria Romanova, who works as a paramedic and was in the hottest spots. She said that being a woman on the front is, of course, very difficult. It is about constant personal challenges because of difficult conditions that men perceive differently. Partly because of this, sexism appears, which surrounds the female essence in war and not only.
Women in war must re-sew their uniforms because they issue only male sizes. Hygiene products are not available, but sometimes volunteer assistance is transferred to the brigade, this is the only way to get them. In case you do not prepare in advance, then menstruation can be a serious problem during hostilities. Due to stress, they can start earlier, or later, and this is another issue that must be solved independently.
Maria said that you can adapt to everything, she sometimes imagines that she plays a role. When she returns to civilian life, the role changes, and the feminine nature prevails again, over the horrors of war. Toughness and courage turn into fragility and lightning in the eyes. But sometimes this transformation can be difficult and then you need to go to a specialist or give yourself time.
A woman and a warrior in the same face is magic and also a very difficult fate.
