The number of women in the Ukrainian army is one of the largest in the world. According to various data sources, there are from 40 to 70 thousand female military personnel in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Each of them needs a female uniform.
The Ukrainian Women Veteran Movement, in conjunction with representatives of the Ukrainian fashion industry, opened a shop for tailoring women’s military uniforms.
Kateryna Pryimak, one of the leaders of the Ukrainian Women Veteran Movement, says that girls began to address the problem—they received male uniforms that did not suit them at all. In order to solve this problem, they began to sew uniforms on their own.
The first batch of 50 uniform sets has already been sent to the defenders. And in order to help in the future, they turned to the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation.
“Our workshop needed support for our development because the potential is huge. Talented people work here, but there is little equipment, and it is not all that professional. Therefore, we’ve sent a project to the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation for the promotion of a sewing workshop. We plan that the workshop will continue its volunteer activities. “We also want to create a civilian clothing line, which we hope will profit us,” Kateryna Pryimak says of her plans.
The workshop intends to obtain new sewing machines with the help of funds from the UVF. The co-founders want to establish their own full-fledged production. Their goal is to provide jobs to female veterans so that they will be able to acquire a new profession after the victory of Ukraine.
Two lines of clothing are planned to be tailored under the Veteranka TM: military and designer. Currently, they continue to sew essential items such as uniforms, T-shirts and underwear.
Ivan Pavlish will use drones both on the battlefield and while working on the land. He is a veteran and recently won the #VARTO contest
Ivan will receive funding for his own business – agricultural drones. Before the ATO, the veteran worked as a judge’s assistant. He planned to continue working in law. But after demobilization, he began to grow soybeans and wheat, so Ivan became a farmer.
“I was inspired by the idea of starting my own business. I saw trends and realized that agriculture is a promising industry, especially in Ukraine. Besides, I have a friend who is engaged in farming. He has his own land plot and the equipment,” says the veteran.
Ivan knows how to properly organize the process, he has the necessary project management skills. After his participation in the ATO, he obtained an economic education and graduated from the Norwegian University with a specialization in “Project Management”.
Ivan also took part in a special course for veterans that was held at the Kyiv School of Economics.
“Many people think that a farmer is someone who always has his hands up to their elbows in mud or turning nuts on a tractor. But modern farming is the same business as any other, the same algorithms operate there,” Ivan explains.
The veteran tried to grow sweet potatoes and planned to reach a commercial level of production. However, on February 25, he was already in the military unit. “During the second mobilization, I was partly involved in aerial reconnaissance and work with drones. At the courses, I met a guy who, in addition to having experience in aerial reconnaissance, was also involved in agricultural drones. I became highly interested in it,” that’s how the idea arose, It was financially supported by the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation.
No crop can be grown without spraying. Plants need fertilizers, protection from pests and proper treatment.
Ivan Pavlish describes such advantages of agrodrones:
They can work in hard-to-reach areas
They accurately apply plant protection products
They help to decrease water consumption
They do not leave tracks, etc.
“You make a map of the field, and the drone automatically calculates its routes, calculates how much time it needs, and returns itself to refuel or replace the battery. The most autonomous thing, which greatly facilitates the work of the farmer,” the veteran shares his experience.
Ivan plans to spend the funds from the UVF on drones, additional equipment for them, as well as for the training of two more operators.
“According to the terms of the project, I have to hire two more workers. I plan to hire veterans with relevant experience. If they have combat experience, they can definitely handle agrodrones. But It is necessary to pay for the appropriate courses for them. I will also be able to make good money if I provide services to neighbouring farms. They are already interested. I hope that I will be able to organize everything,” concludes the veteran entrepreneur.
Ivan will transfer 5% of his own profit to a charity fund that organizes training for combat drone pilots.
Advertising boards with Ukrainian veterans with respect to all who make Ukraine stronger were placed on the streets of Ukrainian cities. Such an information campaign was launched by the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine with the support of NAKO – the Independent Anti-Corruption Commission. Dmytro Kozatskyi, a famous defender with the call sign Orest, a fighter of the Azov regiment, worked on this photo project. His photos from Azovstal became known all over the world. And now Dmytro took part in the first all-Ukrainian project after the capture and, together with the communications team of the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation, he developed the concept of symbolic plots, which emphasize the delayed dreams of veterans, that these heroes had to put on hold because of the war, and what they are currently fighting for. Society respects veterans, feels pride and gratitude towards them. At the same time, society maintains a number of stereotypes about military personnel, so the topic of discrimination of different social groups in the Armed Forces remains on the agenda. This is evidenced by the survey “Issues of discrimination of different social groups in the Armed Forces, March 27-29, 2023”, conducted by the sociological group “Rating”. The highlighted public positions either directly contradict each other, or exist within the framework of certain stereotypes. But it is possible to minimize this dissonance. The social advertisement “There are many veterans. Victory is one common cause.” is designed to draw the attention of a wide audience to the respect, non-discrimination and equality of defenders of Ukraine using the examples of real heroes of the project. “The attitude towards LGBT+ people raises many questions. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, it has become more neutral. However, if a person serves in the Armed Forces, the attitude improves several times. Society supports the idea of granting equal rights to the partners of LGBT military servicemen, because the majority is convinced that such male and female fighters are subjected to significant discrimination,” says Ruslana Velychko-Trifonyuk, First Deputy Executive Director of the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation. A similar dynamic is observed in the issue of representatives of national minorities: if they serve in the Armed Forces, society’s attitude improves several times. However, the question of the possibility of a representative of a national minority to head the Ukrainian unit raises doubts among the respondents. Despite the fact that the society in general is convinced that representatives of ethnic minorities are not discriminated during their military service. “According to the survey, society mostly agrees that a woman can command a combat unit on an equal footing with a man, but, at the same time, there is a belief that it is more difficult for female military personnel to build a career than for men,” emphasizes the Executive Director of the Foundation Nataliya Kalmykova , – besides, in the opinion of Ukrainians, it is better for a woman to engage in non-combat tasks. Society also suggests veterans with disabilities to devote themselves to civilian life or service in the rear. Olena Tregub, Secretary General of NAKO emphasizes: “That’s why we want to draw attention to the fact that devotion to Ukraine and leadership in the defense of our country are things that do not depend on gender or age.” The main task of this social advertisement is to raise respect for veterans in society, regardless of gender, age, nationality or sexual orientation. After all, they are all united by an inseparable feature — the defense of Ukraine in the war, which has been going on for 9 long years.
The heroes of the social campaign are:
Olga Benda is a veteran of the ATO, who went to war when her son was only one year old. In 2016, she had to postpone motherhood (the general plot of the photo project) and in October 2016 she began her service in Avdiivka as a member of the 72nd Mechanized Brigade. In May 2017, she lost her leg as a result of shelling of Ukrainian positions. In 2019, the veteran overcame the distance of the Marine Corps Marathon. Olga Benda became the first Ukrainian to be awarded the Dr. Rainer Hildebrand international award in the field of human rights protection. She fights for the inclusiveness of the environment. Raises two sons.
Nariman Bilyalov, also known as the intelligence officer “Isa Akaev”, is a veteran of the ATO/OS, the founder and commander of the volunteer battalion “Crimea”. Currently, he is the commander of the “Crimea” special unit. He is ethnic Crimean Tatar. After the temporary occupation of Crimea by Russia in 2014, he left the peninsula and went to defend Ukraine in Donbas. Isa Akayev and his comrades participated in the battles for the Savur-Mohyla in Donetsk region, then he defended Mariupol. After the return to a peaceful life, he helped his compatriots from Crimea settle on the mainland of Ukraine, he also popularized Crimean Tatar traditions in the Vinnytsia region. With the beginning of the full-scale war, he returned to the frontline to end the war with Russia and return Crimea under the control of Ukraine.
Oleksandr Budko is a 26-year-old veteran with the call sign “Teren”. He planned to become a graphic designer. After February 24, he joined the ”Carpathian Sich” battalion as a volunteer. A month later, he led the fire support platoon of the second company. He lost both legs when he came under fire from his position during the Kharkiv counteroffensive. Currently, he is preparing for the “Invictus Games” sports event. The photo shows the sports aspect of the veteran’s life.
Eva Reuter, call sign “Planochka”, is a paramedic in the “Hospitaliers” volunteer battalion, a military representative of the LGBTQ+ community. She is 22. In civilian life, Eva was an artist, before the full-scale invasion, she worked in a game development and studied at the art. She joined the ranks of the volunteer battalion in November 2022, so she does not yet have significant combat experience. She dreams of learning how to make tattoos for his brothers and sisters in arms, which is emphasized in the plot of the photo project.
Roman Kulyk, call sign “Viking” is a veteran, who continues his service in the ranks of the Armed Forces. Roman was an active participant of the Revolution of Dignity. He is a public activist, head of the legal support department of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance. During the “first campaign”, in 2015-2016, he served as deputy company commander for personnel work, and then as a company commander in 39th Motorized Infantry Battalion of the 55th Artillery Brigade. After a full-scale invasion, he joined the ranks of the Territorial Defense Forces of Kyiv. Currently, he commands a mechanized company in the 206th battalion of the 241st brigade of Territorial Defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. With his soldiers, he participated in the defense of Kyiv, fought in Mykolaiv region, Kherson region, Kharkiv region, and in Bakhmut. Roman represents a generalized image of a Ukrainian veteran (according to statistics, men aged 30-44) who fights for Ukraine.
Boards and city lights with this campaign can be seen in 7 cities of Ukraine from north to south, from west to east, remembering that there are many different veterans , but Victory is one common cause for all.
Marko Melnyk, with the call sign “Viry” (‘’Whirlpool’’), will develop the “Intellectual Arsenal” project.
The veteran became one of the winners of the first #VARTO veteran business funding competition.
Marko was born and raised in the city of Kryvyi Rih. He participated in the Revolution of Dignity, then joined the “Right Sector” organisation and became a member of the revolutionary self-defence forces. He was wounded during clashes with “Berkut” police forces.
In 2014, Marko went to the front as a volunteer. He was a soldier of the reconnaissance unit of the “Azov” battalion. There he became the founder and editor-in-chief of the first front-line magazine in Ukraine.
Within a year, he became the driver of the medical service and the commander of a group of military journalists of the ideological service of the “Azov” regiment. Participant of the Shyrokyn operation. In 2016, he founded one of the first veteran publishing houses in Ukraine.
“The “Intellectual Arsenal” project will publish and distribute five editions of books that will provide Ukrainians, and in particular the military, who are currently defending Ukraine, with proper informational and intellectual materials,” says Marko.
According to the defender, such books are necessary to preserve the high morale of soldiers and civilians, and to orient society as a whole on its way to the victory and restoration of Ukraine after the defeat of the Russian occupiers.
“It is planned to publish books on the following topics: the history of Ukraine’s struggle for independence in the late 1980s and early 1990s during the collapse of the USSR; the world’s biggest successful military operations against terrorism; ideological foundations and the national idea of Ukraine; military memoirs of volunteers (veterans) who defended Ukraine since 2014; a poetic collection of veterans of the war with Russian Federation,” the veteran shares.
In 2022, Marko Melnyk became the vice president of the historical club “Kholodny Yar”. Photos are taken from the personal archive of Mark Melnyk
Veteran Myroslav Gai currently serves in the ranks of the First Separate Special Brigade named after Ivan Bohun. And his project, the winner of the #VARTO competition, is called “Bandera’s Eye”.
And his nearest ambitious plans include ousting Russian propagandist content from Ukrainian YouTube. Myroslav Gai is a veteran, journalist, actor, volunteer and public activist. At one time, he was an active participant in the Revolution of Dignity.
On May 2, 2014, as part of the 1st Reserve Battalion of the National Guard named after General Serhiy Kulchytskyi, he participated in the first battle near Sloviansk. On May 14, 2014, it was Myroslav Gai, together with the paratrooper of the 95th Zhytomyr airborne brigade, Serhiy Shevchuk, who raised the Ukrainian flag on the Sloviansk TV tower near Karachun mountain.
Now Myroslav is back in the army. Recently, he was awarded the Order of “Bohdan Khmelnytskyi” of the III grade – for personal courage and selfless actions shown in the defence of the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and loyalty to the military oath.
“Bandera’s Eye” is a YouTube project that posts short videos twice a week. In those videos, they explain current political and social phenomena and events in simple terms.
The goal of the project, as Myroslav explains: “Is popularising everything Ukrainian in the global informational space, countering fakes and manipulations. It is important to engage in the cultural education of the population. Every citizen should know basic things about the world, society and his country. They should understand the laws under which society exists, what are international organizations and why they were created. This will contribute towards the formation of a civil society of our nation. It is necessary to destroy the attitude of apoliticality, in order to make people engaged in the social life of the country. We want to supplement the cultural sector of audiovisual art with high-quality, Ukrainian-language content.”
Myroslav and his team won a #VARTO competition for the development of Ukrainian-language content in order to overcome the Russian monopoly in the media field.
They plan to develop the YouTube channel as a business project, attract advertisers, create jobs for veterans, organize charity events for the Armed Forces, popularize charitable initiatives, etc.
Andriy Vasylchenko had a farm for 300 piglets in the Luhansk region – the Russians stole them. He cultivated 1,000 hectares of land – the Russians occupied them.
Mr. Andriy founded his farm back in 1993 in the Starobilsk district of the Luhansk region. The land was cultivated and sown with grain. Then the grain was transported to the ports of Berdyansk and Mariupol and sold to Turkey. He had his own auto park.
There was also income from the sale of pork – it was sold at the markets of the nearby cities of Severodonetsk, Lysychansk, and Rubizhne. With the full-scale invasion of the russians, Andriy Vasylchenko lost everything, his entire life’s work – hundreds of piglets, his land, and a fleet of vehicles. Now he is reviving his business, but this time in Zhytomyr Oblast.
And the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation helps him with this. With the full-scale invasion of the Russians, Andriy Vasylchenko lost everything, his entire life’s work – hundreds of piglets, hectares of land, and a fleet of vehicles. But now it is starting to work – already in Zhytomyr Oblast.
And the Ukrainian Veterans Fund helps him in this. The village where Mr. Andrii’s farm operated was, as he put it, “in a pocket”, because on one side it was just 100 km away from Voronezh region of Russia, and on the other side it was surrounded by the temporarily occupied territories of Luhansk re by Russia. On the morning of February 24, the first massive shelling began.
Firstly, Mr. Andrii evacuated his family to western Ukraine. On February 27, the Russians came to his neighborhood – they wanted him, because Mr. Andriy is a participant in the Antiterrorist operation: in May 2014, he joined the ranks of the Starobilsk Self-Defense Force, and in June the “Aidar” battalion.
He took part in battles for Shchastya and Zolote-4 in his native Luhansk region. He served in the Armed Forces till the end of 2015.
“Everything in the house has been turned upside down. Even the vodka that was left after the New Year celebration was taken out of the kitchen from the cupboard. Meat and fish were taken out of the freezer. They broke the locks, stole all the equipment. 300 piglets were also taken away – they were loaded and taken away, they came six or seven times to pick up every single one,” he says.
His native village is now occupied, Mr. Andrii settled in Zhytomyr Oblast — life goes on.
He applied for the “VARTO” program from the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation, and received funding for the development of freight transportation services – he will transport grain. He has already bought a car, and plans to get a transport trailer.
The man dreams of returning to his native Luhansk region. He calls the disintegration of the Russian Federation as a state and the return of Ukraine to its official borders as a true victory in the Russian-Ukrainian war.
Oleg Kashlyak is one of the winners of the #VARTO veteran business financing competition program. He expands and develops the Merlion veterinary clinic in Lviv.
Oleg has been on the veterinary path since 1996, when he graduated from the Lviv Veterinary Institute. But in 2013, Oleg was overthrown from the position of senior veterinarian and appointed as the head of the fuel and lubricants department.
Therefore, from the beginning of the Maidan until 2016, Oleg was engaged in providing fuel to the Western grouping of troops. In the ATO, he went to the hottest spots of the front: from Debaltseve to Stanytsia Luhanska.
His gas station supplied all roadblocks where the National Guard of Ukraine was stationed. In 2016 Oleg organized his second laboratory of safe food products. It was designed to make sure that all products that went to the ATO, as well as those that were supplied to the National Guard, were safe. However, being in the ATO, he also took care of animals.
Oleg remembers: “There were many stray cats and dogs in the ATO. Together with the State Veterinary Service and the National Guard veterinarians, we vaccinated homeless animals in the area wherever the NGU served.”
In 2022, the man retired due to health issues. Around this time, his son graduated from the Veterinary University, so they decided to start their own business. Father and son opened the “Merlion” veterinary clinic. This name is symbolic for both of them.
The Merlion is a lionfish, the symbol of Singapore. According to the horoscope signs, the son is Pisces, and the father is Leo. “That’s how we got our Dr. Merlion, with the tail of a fish and the head of a lion. The lion is wise and fiery, the fish is calm water. Two elements at the same time”
In 2021 concurrently with opening the clinic, Oleg took business courses from the Ministry of Veterans Affairs. Then he made two business plans. One for the IOM (International Organization for Migration), which paid for his surgical table. The other is for the Lviv Regional State Administration, which bought him an artificial lung ventilation apparatus.
Today, the development of the veterinary clinic has reached the second stage of the business plan – the equipment of the diagnostic and laboratory department.
“This stage is 60% of what we planned to do with our clinic. I found out #VARTO program from Yulia Laputina (Minister of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine), who came to my clinic. I applied to the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation. Furthermore, I filled out an application for the #VARTO competition program and became one of those who received the financing. With the funds of UVF, I will pay for an ultrasound machine and a biochemical hemoanalyzer,” says Mr. Oleg.
Now the clinic has hired two students that will be trained to work with the new equipment. Previously, the veterinary clinic concluded a contract with the Lviv Veterinary University. Groups of students came, including foreign students. Oleg’s goal is to cover more university departments and to provide students practical knowledge. Oleg continues to maintain friendship with the military.
He says: “I do not have formal cooperation with them, but i maintain friendly relations. I am in contact with various power structures of the Armed Forces, and, of course, of the National Guard, because I served in together with them.”
Why do many people know a lot about the clinic? Oleg says it’s a good reputation that spreads quickly. “We constantly keep an eye on this question. because a good client service is often passed from mouth-to-mouth. Both cynologists and volunteers know about us. Because they brought us animals that we cared for, and then they recommended the Merlion veterinary clinic to their friends.” We are incredibly glad that we can support such clinics and the good deeds of our veterans.
“When my employee goes on vacation, I will replace him. So it will be easier to get out of all these situations. To rehab,” says Oleksandr Shilin, winner of the #WORTH contest.
Oleksandr is an ATO veteran. After returning to the army, he serves in Kharkiv region. Despite this, he is already planning what he will do after the war. That’s why he has opened a cool garbage collection business. Firstly, he rented a car. Now he is recruiting and not against working by himself.
Oleksandr believes that while working he will recover faster after the front. Oleksandr had been working at enterprises dealing with household waste in Kharkiv for 10 years. This is how a large client base has been formed. Therefore, his colleagues and he can provide private services. Having evaluated the situation in the country and the current requests, the veteran decided to legalize and expand the business.
“We expect that orders will start in the spring, waste collection will increase. Maybe the war will end. More repairs, more household waste will begin,” the veteran says.
Oleksandr’s company now takes out waste from various districts of Kharkiv. They work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. However, the number of his employees decreased because his colleagues were mobilized to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The main customers are people who started to rebuild their homes after the shelling, as well as small and medium-sized businesses.
Oleksandr will direct the funds received from the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation to:
• purchase of reliable vehicles;
• purchase of containers to attract regular customers;
• rent of a territory with a parking space and a repair box;
• fuel purchase;
• involvement of professional drivers, mechanics and logisticians;
• advertising campaign.
The veteran plans to employ people who defended Ukraine.
The notion that physical strength and size are prerequisites to effective fighting persists in the military.
Multiple nations are making substantial efforts to ensure women have the opportunity to serve and build careers in the military.
Despite the progress of the military becoming more gender diverse, only a few women are in the top ranks.
Co-authored by Natalia Kalmykova, Chester Spell, and Katerina Bezrukova
Wars are certainly fought differently now than 100 years ago. Yet, while the tools, weapons, and strategies are different, people still think about war as something that engages men primarily, despite the growing presence of women in militaries across the globe. These “sticky” attitudes are slow to change partly because they have been widely held for so long. From antiquity, men were seen as hunters and warriors, and women raised children and did household duties.
These beliefs of ancient origin about men as superior fighters are entrenched in many aspects of society and cultures but are especially a part of the military culture. The notion that physical strength and size are prerequisites to effective fighting persists. And these beliefs shouldn’t surprise us; after all, numerous research studies are showing taller people (more likely men) are still more likely to get leadership positions, earn more money, and so forth (Judge & Cable, 2004).
While our biases are slow to change, war technology is changing dramatically.
Artillery systems, aircraft, and drones make war longer-distance, yet in many ways more dangerous for military personnel and civilians.
Along with these technological changes, the gender makeup of the military has also been changing. Multiple nations are making substantial efforts to ensure women have the opportunity to serve and build careers in the military. The UN Resolution 1325, “Women. Peace. Security,” signed on 31 October 2000, legitimized the diversification of military employment and endorsed including more women in units.
It appears that wars can also accelerate changing gender makeup by necessity. We have seen more women fighting in Ukraine since 2014 when Russian aggression started. The percentage of women in the Armed Forces increased from 6.5 percent in 2014 to up to 15.6 percent in 2021. The full-scale invasion further accelerated the process and motivated more women to join the army to protect their country. By 2023 over 40,000 women were on active duty and over 5,000 in combat operations.
However, even with the growing number of women serving, few have reached the top ranks, which remains the case in the defense forces of several countries. In the Ukraine armed forces, only 8.9 percent of officers are women, and none are in top military combat positions. Looking at female leadership in the U.S. military, of 234,634 active duty officers, 18.9 percent are female. But again, females are disproportionately in lower ranks. There are 71 female officers of high rank, compared to 833 equivalently high-rank positions occupied by men–or 7.8 percent of the total high rank are female. (U.S. Department of Defense, 2020). A very similar situation is found in the army of Israel; among junior officers, 56 percent are women, but only 14 percent are on the level of major to colonel.
Military leadership is changing the norms behind these disparities, often meeting resistance.
Yet, changes in gender composition are indeed occurring and can effectively counteract existing gender stereotypes. For example, Sasson‐Levy and Amram‐Katz (2007) and Ben-Shalom et al. (2019) showed that after four years of common service, male and female cadets expressed indifference toward the integration of men with women, perceiving it as something natural and accepting the mixed-gender service as a given fact rather than a topic to be complained about or remarked upon.
There is a more compelling rationale for the goal of gender-based equity in the military than fairness alone. Women also make unique contributions to military operations like taking better care of equipment and tools, working more carefully on tasks, keeping their areas cleaner and better organized, showing advantages in the cognitive and emotional areas, having higher mental aptitude scores, and just better understanding the men’s perspectives and tendencies. Logically, they should be as qualified to lead male teams as men, if not better.
Despite all the data pointing to women’s unique contributions to the military, they still face a glass ceiling when it comes to promoting male and female leaders in the military. Females face their first structural barrier at the rank of major. Another glass ceiling appears upon reaching the brigadier general. As in other professions and occupations, challenges include marriage and having a family, often presenting difficult decisions for women with the goal of achieving senior ranks.
Taking stock of the gender equity issue in the military reveals at least two stereotypes at play. One is the stereotype that women can not fight. Another is that women can not lead. The first has been easier to overcome, whereas the second is more resistant to progress.
Could military-based gender inequity be fixed?
Optimistically, over time more and more women will achieve leadership roles in the military. The road will not be easy, as we see in other male-dominated career fields for women.
As a first step, diversity in many armed forces has already increased at the lower levels, as we showed, providing good experiences in serving together within the military. As a promotion to higher ranks becomes more commonplace, these changes should enrich the military with female managerial capabilities adding competitive advantages, particularly to those military organizations that will do this first.
On an optimistic note, while increased opportunities and gender equity in the military would seem a laudable goal, achieving it may have even more fundamental benefits. Could we dare to hope that such equity, in bringing perhaps more collaborative approaches to conflict resolution, might result in avoiding some wars? Making “wars of choice” and similar occurrences less common would make gender equity, especially at the highest level of decision-making, all the more worthwhile and a goal to be strived for.
Nataliia Kalmykova is CEO of the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation.
References
Ben‐Shalom, U., Lewin, E., & Engel, S. (2019). Organizational processes and gender integration in operational military units: An Israel Defense Forces case study. Gender, Work, and Organization, 26(9), 1289–1303. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12348
Judge, T.A. & Cable. D.M. (2004. The effect of physical height on workplace success and income: preliminary test of a theoretical model. The Journal of applied psychology 89 (3), 428-41 .
Sasson-Levy, O. & Amram-Katz, S. (2007). Gender integration in Israeli officer training: Degendering and regendering the military. Signs 33(1), 105–133. doi:10.1086/518262.Morereferences
“I myself had to leave my hometown, which is still being shelled by the Russians. Rockets have already exploded three times near my house. When we arrived in Odesa, I had problems with settling. On the first night of our move, we sought shelter in the villages. There were many holiday homes, but it was simply impossible to spend the night there. Many of them were closed. That’s why I had to go to Odessa,” Oleksandr says.
He and his family stayed in the village of Karolino-Bugaz.
There they found a location that used to consist of three separate apartments, but they have been combined into one large space. They decided to set up a shelter there.
“There are currently 300 displaced people living in our settlement. The United Territorial Community forbade visiting the beach and the ocean. As a result, it is no longer a resort destination but rather a location to stay temporarily. Up to 6 persons can simultaneously occupy a room at our shelter. All amenities, as required by sanitary standards: bathrooms, a large and spacious kitchen,” says the veteran.
Oleksandr claims that when the government advised Ukrainians to take care of their home’s energy efficiency, he got the idea to equip the building with electricity-generating equipment. “In the shelter, we will install Ukrainian-made blinds on the windows, which can generate electricity from sunlight. This is how we will illuminate the spaces.
Additionally, if a battery is connected, you can build up energy that is sufficient to power an electric fireplace and heat the room” the businessman claims. Before the start of the war, Oleksandr Ruban was a private entrepreneur for ten years.
Before that, he was a huntsman at nature reserve parks. In April 2014 he signed up to join the “Dnipro 1” special purpose battalion as a volunteer. Later on, he enlisted in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, where he spent an additional two years of service.
Oleksandr participated in combat operations close to Popasna and Bakhmut in the anti-terrorist operation zone.
