Themes by tag: women

Mariana Mamonova, 31, is a doctor, Armed Forces of Ukraine Medical Service Captain who has been traveling to the ATO/JFO area since 2018.

At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, she served in Mariupol. In mid-March, she found out that she was bearing a child. Despite pregnancy, she continued to save the lives of others. Later, together with her colleagues and dozens of civilians, she was at the Illich Steel and Iron Works. She was captured by the occupiers on April 4. The pregnant woman spent six months in the Olenivka colony. On September 21, she was set free. Four days after the exchange, she gave birth to a daughter.

For reference: more than 500 Ukrainian doctors are currently being forcibly detained across Russia. There are both civilian and military doctors among them, according to the Center for Civil Liberties. Journalists can also ask for the Center’s experts’ comments.

• doctors
• military
• prisoners
• women

Alisa Shramko took her first first-aid training back in 2018. It was a Hospitallers volunteer medical battalion course. Together with Hospitallers, Alisa went on her first deployment. Later, she became a combat medic instructor for new medics and recruit soilders.

When Russia attacked Ukraine in 2022, Alisa was pregnant with her second child. The woman says that the pregnancy was challenging, but despite the difficulties, Alisa escaped from the hospital to conduct first aid training. The paramedic kept taking lessons until she gave birth. After the baby was born, she signed an enlistment contract with the Fastiv First Aid Station, started serving in the capital, and took up the position of a medical corps instructor. Now she often takes her children with her to hold training for newcomers. As a civilian, Alisa works at the National Museum of Folk Architecture and Life in the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage. 

• culture
• doctors
• military
• women

When russia first attacked Ukraine in 2014, Halyna Klempouz was still a student. The girl started actively volunteering. In 2016, Halyna decided to become a military officer, the girl held various positions in the army and ended up in air reconnaissance. A year later, Halyna was demobilized, her father died and the girl had to stay at home to take care of her mother. With the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the veteran wanted to mobilize, but Halyna’s boyfriend, who was defending Mariupol, made her promise that the girl would stay in the rear until he returned home. Halyna’s beloved was captured by the russians along with other defenders of Azovstal. Thus, Halyna’s struggle for Ukraine turned into a struggle for Ukrainian prisoners. Currently, the veteran works as a spokesperson at the Association of Azovstal Defenders’ Families.

• military
• prisoners
• women

Veteran paramedic Yuliia “Kuba” has been rescuing the wounded in the hottest spots of the front since 2014. After retiring from the service in 2019, she started working in fashion design and participated in Ukrainian Fashion Week. After the start of russia’s full-scale invasion, the veteran returned into the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to save lives. While still being at the front, the woman joined the creation of a clothing brand called Cubitus Dei, which is produced in the VETERANKA workshop. Recently, a charity collection of this brand – “Fire of Liberty” – was presented in France. Anyone can buy the first accessories from the collection – “Kolos” brooches. The money from the sale will go to the rehabilitation of wounded servicewomen, who are cared for by the Veteranka foundation.

Volunteers of the VETERANKA shop, led by designer of famous Ukrainian brands Hanna Suvorkina and Ukrainian designer Stanislav Bitus, also worked on the creation of the “Fire of Liberty” charity collection. During the full-scale invasion, Stanislav changed his line of work and began producing women’s military uniforms instead of fashionable dresses, became Head of “VETERANKA” workshop, and after the presentation of the collection, joined the ranks of the National Guard of Ukraine.

• doctors
• military
• women

All her life, Viktoriia had been afraid of needles and she would even lose consciousness when her blood was being taken for a test. Despite this, on February 23, 2022, the woman donated blood for the military for the first time: she wanted to help the Ukrainian army in the east. Already after February 24, donation became a usual task for Viktoriia. The woman donates blood as often as doctors allow.

Viktoriia also began actively blogging about blood donation. She debunks myths and gives advice to those just starting out on this path. In particular, she talks about her experience, shares the best places to donate blood and describes the entire procedure in detail. Viktoriia says that she managed to persuade a considerable number of people to donate blood.

• volunteers
• women

Women from the IT industry, who have been actively helping Ukrainian defenders since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, make infantry shovels for the military. They realized that, although such shovels are needed by the majority of Ukrainian soldiers, it is extremely difficult to find an inexpensive shovel of good quality. Therefore, the girls united in a volunteer initiative called “Teeth Shovel.” They managed to establish the production of high-quality shovels, costing UAH 150 per piece. “Teeth shovel” has already handed over 18,000 shovels to Ukrainian fighters. Currently, the goal of the “toothy” girls is to provide 30,000 soldiers with infantry shovels.

• military
• volunteers
• women

Before the full-scale Russian invasion, the medic with the call sign Shining got a degree in history and archaeology and planned to enter the field. With the outbreak of the great war, Shining decided that the history teacher’s classroom could wait, but evacuating the wounded from the front line was urgent business. So she volunteered to join the Hospitallers medical battalion. She rescued the injured military personnel in the hottest spots of the frontline, and now she is working in one of the stabilization centers. This is a place to stabilize wounded soldiers’ health conditions as quickly as possible, and everything is done to help them get to a hospital. The girl often had to perform resuscitation in extreme conditions, bringing defenders back to life. But sometimes doctors are powerless. In such cases, Shining is afraid to see the face of a soldier whose life they failed to save on the news.

The girl is not disclosing her real name for security reasons.

• doctors
• military
• women

Before the start of russia’s full-scale invasion, Yuliia Vitova worked as a journalist, her husband was a TV cameraman. In the first days of the war, he was mobilized and became a fighter in the territorial defense forces. The woman made news reports, and a little later became a TV presenter. Yuliia often had to hold back her emotions during live broadcasts, because her husband was in the area attacked by the enemy. In the end, Yuliia decided that it was time to join her beloved: on March 13, 2023, the woman joined the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Currently, Yuliia has the call sign “Volyn” and serves together with her husband as a rifleman. She admits that with her height of 1.57 centimeters and a weight of 45 kilograms, the military service was not easy at first. After the victory of Ukraine, the servicewoman plans to become a psychologist and support those who need her help.

Important notice: Yuliia Vitova is in a war zone. She is ready to talk to journalists online and provide the necessary video and photo materials.

• military
• women

Alona Danilova’s stepfather enlisted in the army in 2014, was held captive, and since the full-scale invasion outbreak, he mobilized again. Alona’s husband had military experience: In 2018, he received a gunshot wound and became disabled, but this did not stop him from defending Ukraine again. Alona’s brother is studying at a military academy, so after the Russian invasion began, he went straight to practical training.

At the end of March, Alona created a channel in the telegram, gathering proactive women she knew. It was the beginning of the Ukrainian Women’s Battalion. The girls quickly determined the basic needs of the military and started to provide them with helmets, body armor, ammunition, and first aid kits. Over a year, the military expressed gratitude to the Ukrainian Women’s Battalion team, and at the end of 2022, the President of Ukraine recognized their work. The team has also launched a number of other initiatives, including the Women’s Voice project uniting women in need of psychological support willing to share their stories. The Ukrainian Women’s Battalion tells stories on its social media platforms so the world knows what Ukrainian women have been through.

• volunteers
• women

Nataliia Sosmii, a cadet of the Ivan Kozhedub Kharkiv National Air Force University, faced the Russian invasion in Kherson. In the first months of the occupation, she rode her bike around the city and passed information about the Russians to the Ukrainian soldiers she possessed. In late August, Nataliia decided to leave Kherson. But the flight was postponed, and 30 armed Russians broke into the cadet’s house. Natalia’s home was searched, and she was taken to a temporary detention center there. There, she was beaten and psychologically pressured: in particular, her 16-year-old daughter was threatened with rape. “They said that they would take me to Donbas and let me go towards the Ukrainian military to be shot by Ukrainian soldiers. I said that I would rather be killed by my people rather than die here,” the cadet recalls.

Nataliia also heard how her classmate Oleksandr was being tortured. To save him, she agreed to take part in the recording of a Russian propaganda video. Nataliia has left Kherson and is safe and ready to talk to the media.

• prisoners
• russian crimes
• women