68 thousand women serving in AFU, about 5 thousand are directly in combat zone - Defense Ministry
The total number of women in the Armed Forces of Ukraine is 68 thousand, more than 48 thousand of them are military personnel.
According to Censor.NET, this was stated by the State Secretary of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Liudmyla Darahan at an international seminar on gender equality.
Thus, she said that the total number of women in the Armed Forces of Ukraine is 68 thousand, of which more than 48 thousand are servicewomen. Approximately 5,000 women are directly in the combat zone.
"Today, women are everywhere - holding the rear, working in difficult positions, fighting in the ranks of the Armed Forces. They prove that people should be judged by their capabilities, efficiency and intelligence, not by their gender," said Darahan.
She also drew attention to changes in the gender policy of the Ministry of Defense that have been implemented in recent years. In particular, women were given the opportunity to serve in combat specialties in 2018. However, this opportunity remained unrealized for a long time.
"The law itself was not enough. There was also an order with the stamp of the Defence Service that regulated officer positions for women and men separately. In 2022, after this order was amended, we managed to overcome these obstacles," Darahan said.
The level of clothing for the military also improved. For example, in 2023, women's summer military uniforms were introduced - before that, only the ceremonial ones were available.
