National Interest

by David Kirichenko

    Since 2022, Ukraine has sought to integrate women into its armed forces more effectively, especially in drone operations.

    When Russia invaded Ukraine, millions fled, but many Ukrainian women ran toward the fight. They are now the engineers building drones, the volunteers evacuating civilians under shelling, the tech workforce increasingly fueling Ukraine’s drone revolution and the young drone pilots striking Russian forces.

    Their role is becoming increasingly important as the conflict saps Ukraine’s manpower amid broader mobilization challenges. A 2025 labor market assessment found that half of the surveyed companies planned to hire women for traditionally male-dominated roles in 2026. In wartime Ukraine, women are playing an increasingly important role in sustaining the country’s broader defense mobilization.

    Before Russia’s full-scale invasion, Lyuba Shipovich lived comfortably in the United States. She was a successful software engineer and fintech entrepreneur planning a European expansion. With the invasion, she took her technical talents to help Ukraine leverage technology to defend itself.

    Shipovich co-founded Dignitas, an organization that supports military technology development for the Ukrainian army and helps train soldiers on drones and ground robotics. Through partnerships with major Ukrainian retailers, Dignitas has also helped fund the full training and equipping of female drone operators, who are then deployed with their own operational drone kits. “They break old ideas about who belongs on the battlefield,” wrote a Dignitas blog post.

    One Ukrainian ground robotics commander told me that Shipovich’s organization, Dignitas, helps “rapidly test new solutions, adapt them to real battlefield conditions and quickly deliver what actually works to the front lines.” Another commander said he wished he had more soldiers available to send to the ground robotics school where Dignitas helps train operators.

    Another key figure behind Ukraine’s drone revolution is Maria Berlinska, a co-founder of Dignitas and the driving force behind the Victory Drones initiative. A former aerial reconnaissance operator who volunteered in the war in Donbas, Berlinska has become one of Ukraine’s leading voices on military modernization and women’s integration into the Ukrainian army. Dignitas Ukraine President Dmytro Kavun called Berlinska a “visionary and evangelist.”

    Through the Victory Drones project, she has helped train more than 50,000 military personnel in unmanned systems. She has also pushed for structural reforms, helping remove customs barriers and VAT on imported drones so critical technology could reach the battlefield faster.

    Berlinska stated that “We are in the greatest technological war in human history, a battle where David must constantly asymmetrically invent ever newer technological ‘slingshots’ to contain the giant Goliath of the Axis of Evil.”

    Another woman helping sustain Ukraine’s technological edge is Iryna Zhluktenko, co-founder and director of Dzyga’s Paw Foundation. This Ukrainian nonprofit equips frontline units with drones and supports research and development for army units.

    Since 2022, her small team has raised more than $5.5 million through international crowdfunding, building a global network of supporters across over 70 countries. She started the project with her now-husband Dimko, who joined the army in 2024. “I think our relationship is important to both Dimko and me, but we have put it aside for now because we have prioritized the fight,” said Zhluktenko.

    Shortly before their wedding in June 2024, she posted on X: “I am going to marry soon. I can’t invite some of my friends to my wedding because they chose to fight for our independence, for the freedom of every Ukrainian citizen, me in particular. And they were killed by Russians.”

    Across the country, other women were volunteering to aid Ukraine’s defense in other ways. On the second day of the invasion, Alina Holovko in Dnipro created a Telegram group to organize volunteers. Shortly after, the individuals who showed up agreed to make Molotov cocktails in a body shop to stop the Russians if they came to the city. The next day, three times as many people showed up. Soon, as many as 100 people a day were volunteering.

    Then soldiers arrived at her warehouse and asked who was in charge. The men went silent. Holovko stepped forward. “I was given a large warehouse and a place to cook for our team. Materials, fuel, glass and other humanitarian aid were brought in because people wanted to help in some way,” she said.

    Soon, the Molotov cocktails were no longer needed. But the war was only beginning. Acquaintances from Kharkiv called, asking for help evacuating civilians under shelling. Holovko pivoted again. “That day, I met an old acquaintance, Anton, who asked what I was doing. I told him about the evacuations and he offered to post about it on his Instagram account, where he had over 30,000 followers. From that moment, I became an operator and Anton helped with the posts. The number of requests was overwhelming and I could only sleep a few hours each day,” she said.

    She has since helped evacuate more than 40,000 civilians. “More and more often, it is women who are behind the wheel of evacuation buses, organizing the delivery of humanitarian aid and working in crisis zones,” Holovko said.

    Many women begin volunteering after loved ones are mobilized, she said, but stay because the work becomes something deeper—a calling. “When you see the need, gender does not matter,” she said. “The war has forced women to become braver, more decisive and ready to take responsibility where it matters most.”

    Holovko added, “War is pain and death. Everyone who can, must fight.” And women are fighting. Yuliia Didenko is 21 years old. She goes by the call sign “Tysha.” She is a reconnaissance drone operator in Ukraine’s 413th Regiment of the Unmanned Systems Forces.

    Olha Meloshyna, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, said drone roles are not safer. Russian forces actively hunt operators. More women are moving into drone operation, repair and electronic warfare as unmanned systems dominate the battlefield. Women now make up 4.2 percent of the force, a significant number, she notes, because they enlist voluntarily.

    Didenko told me that she did not plan on a military career. “I had no fear,” she said. “What could be more frightening than realizing that while Russians are killing and torturing Ukrainians, I am resting at home ”

    Her job is technical, dangerous and it comes with challenges. “Armor and clothing don’t take female anatomy into account,” she said. “Honestly, they don’t really take male anatomy into account either.” She bought much of her gear herself or relied on female volunteers who specialize in equipping women soldiers. “I am incredibly grateful to them,” she said. “It’s important that women support one another.”

    Until recently, Ukrainian women were formally barred from most combat roles. That changed after 2022. Today, more than 70,000 women serve in Ukraine’s military, with thousands in combat roles. Oksana Hryhorieva, the military’s gender adviser, told NPR that women now serve across nearly all specialties—even, in some cases, while pregnant. Many joined after losing loved ones. Others enlisted to defend their families and homes.

    Public attitudes have shifted, too. According to nationally representative Ukrainian polls conducted by KIIS in 2018 and InfoSapiens in 2022, support for equal opportunities for women in the army rose from 53 percent to 80 percent after Russia’s full-scale invasion.

    Even Russia has begun highlighting female drone operators. Ahead of International Women’s Day in March, Russian state TV aired a segment on women serving as drone pilots in frontline units.

    A BBC report from October 2024 highlighted the mostly female “Witches of Bucha,” a volunteer air-defense unit helping defend towns near Kyiv from Russian drone attacks, reflecting the widening role women are playing in Ukraine’s defense.

    “In those cases, you have to prove that you’re the same combat unit as they are,” Didenko said. “The most important thing is not to be afraid to stand up for yourself.”

    Her motivation for joining the army is simple. “It’s revenge for friends and loved ones taken by the Russians. Revenge for stolen time, opportunities and dreams,” she said. She rejects the idea that women are unsuited for combat. “Women are the same combat units as men,” she said. “Yes, physical work is harder for us. But we train, we learn and we work.”

    Women are now serving in an expanding range of roles across the front. Ukraine’s National Guard recently deployed its first all-female FPV drone strike crew. Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces have also fielded all-female strike units, including the “Harpies,” which operate a customized Vampire bomber drone developed specifically for women operators.

    “We already know of many women in leadership positions, women who have led comrades out of encirclement and done countless other incredible and truly heroic things,” said Didenko. “Our advantage lies in our unconditional motivation, because every single woman here came voluntarily.”

    Holovko told me that “To understand Ukraine, you must experience the powerful kindness of its people.” And increasingly, the strength of its women.