Today at 12:15
At the National Ground Forces Academy in Lviv, half of the future artillery reconnaissance specialists are women. Around 20 cadets are commanded by Inna Yatselenko.
“In the age when all the kids decide what to study and what profession to choose, I realized how much I am capable of and I felt the strength to make this difficult step. And this is why I study in this academy,” Yatselenko said.
At the moment, Ukrainian women willing to become army officer have a limited choice of specializations.
“For several years I looked for the specialty to see as much combat action as possible. And artillery was the only way. At present, this is the only combat arms specialty that’s open for women,” Yatselenko said.
The situation is expected to change in the near future. The Parliament adopted a law that should ensure equal rights for women in the military. It will amend existing laws and the internal regulations of the army.
“It is designed to ensure equal participation of men and women in military service, in performing the military duty. The only exceptions are cases relating to the protection of maternity and childcare,” Legal Service Officer Inna Zavorotko said.
That is to say, servicewomen retain the right to full maternity leave spanning up to three years after childbirth.
The Ukrainians are joined in Lviv by colleagues from Poland.
“In all the time of my service, I never experienced any discrimination or any difference in treatment. Quite the opposite: all of my friends in the army, my co-servicemen and women perform their duties to the same extent as I do, we are the same in terms of achieving higher levels, receiving officer ranks and advancing along the career ladder,” Captain Marja, a soldier in Poland’s army said.
Captain Marja and her colleague Justina said that women in the Polish military have every possibility to General.
“There are no female generals in the Polish army so far. That’s because too little time has passed since women began serving in the army. But there already are women in charge of battalions,” Justina said.
Ukrainian women have proven themselves defending Ukraine on the frontlines of Russia’s war in Donbas. As their combat comrades know full well – what matters is not the age or gender, but the professional skills of the soldier, when human lives are at stake.
