'War doesn't have a gender': the evolving role of women in Ukraine's armed forces | Ukraine podcast

Day 741.
Today, Ukraine announces a mandatory evacuation from Kupyansk, as Russian forces draw nearer; Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron attempt to build more support for Ukraine; and we analyse the history and changing role of women in Ukraine’s armed forces on International Women’s Day 2024.
Contributors:
David Knowles (Head of Audio Development). @DJKnowles on X.
Dominic Nicholls (Associate Editor, Defence). @DomNicholls on X.
Francis Dearnley (Assistant Comment Editor). @FrancisDearnley on X.
Svitlana Morenets Spectator Journalist). @SvMorenets on X.
Olga Malchevska (BBC journalist). @BBC_Olga_M on X.
Relevant Links:
- Olga's Documentary: 'Ukraine - Women at War' (BBC)
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...
- Breaking barriers: women in the Ukrainian Armed Forces
• Breaking barriers: wom...
- Women in the Army: The Case of Ukraine
• Women in the Army: The...
- Sexual violence as a weapon of war in Russia’s war against Ukraine
• Sexual Violence as a W...
- Francis' Video: Russian election 2024: Who is left to challenge Putin's iron grip?
• Russian election 2024:...
Subscribe to The Telegraph: telegraph.co.uk/ukrainethelatest
Email: [e-mail]

[@voiceofexperience]

"War doesn't have a gender" - The names on the memorials in my country say otherwise.

[@reaverman]

Remember Hillary Clinton coming our with corker 'The people most effected by war is women', well that's what they are trying to do here. Because it's international women's day. They have to try an make out, women are more important. They should be saying 'Free People of the west, we have to shake off this tyranny!'

[@errah1352]

how else would they get the women to fight they have to push some propaganda nonsense in order for them to believe they have what it takes to fight the same as a man would. the naive believe away regardless of the lie

[@georgine321]

The memorials were raised by men. Your experience is lacking.

[@tyllerboomgaarden7344]

​@@errah1352 it is just as much propaganda to say women can't ever do the same as a man. The only thing that matters is meeting the standards given.

[@anthonyhulse1248]

My grandma made bombs in WW2, and she lived through the Blitz while looking after my dad, while my grandad was away at the war. So, yes, I agree, war doesn’t have gender.

[@lexbor3511]

These "journalists" think we are idiots...

[@CliveofEngland]

We know these 'journalists' are propagandists.

[@richardwilson57]

I entirely agree with the concept of women fighting on the front line……. And I would like to vouch for my wife …… she would be a fantastic addition for the Ukrainian front line 😉😉

[@user-ir2oo4wo3g]

so tired of it?

[@Doomer1984]

😂

[@georgine321]

I would volunteer if I was younger, not even young. Unfortunately, I am older than dirt so I simply try to support Ukraine in any way I can. If my grandchildren considered volunteering I would support them in their decision too. We are not Americans raised on its gun culture and ease of waging war.

[@UpToDateMeme]

What does this even mean?

[@adamtryczynski]

It means that he has no class@@UpToDateMeme

[@j.s.c.4355]

To Quote The Two Towers, “ the women of this country learned long ago that those without swords can still die upon them.” Жінки цієї країни давно зрозуміли, що ті, хто не має мечів, все ще можуть померти на них.

[@tezzy5584]

The west is sure learning all the right lessons from this war.......

[@Ultranationalist987]

Happy women's day around the world. Congratulations Happy Women's day 🇸🇴🇺🇦 🙏

[@misha6699]

Next week, a Telegraph podcast, "War doesn't know age, it's but a number", as Ukraine starts mobilising 10 year olds.

[@user-yc4xf8cv5y]

Ukraine is finished 🤔🤔😪

[@georgine321]

No, it is not.

[@gurokrater]

​@@georgine321It is! Mister!

[@jeffree9015]

Finally seeing some ambiguity. The biggest mistake the West made was making it clear to Russia that the only thing that would illicit a response from NATO would be a nuclear strike. They should have told Putin that if the civillian deaths continue there would be intervention. It should have been the Russians being forced to make the difficult decisions, not the other way around.

[@georgine321]

The West never said that. Muscovy/propaganda queens are the ones floating nukes every few days.

[@jeffree9015]

@@georgine321 The only thing the Russians have been threatened over is their use of nuclear weapons.

[@linmal2242]

@@jeffree9015Yes, sort of waved through the RUS invasion of UKR Presumably Putin was told in Moscow to stop it, but not hard enough. With no demonstration !

[@user-ir2oo4wo3g]

@@jeffree9015 Oh, don’t worry, today the Russians can end any war in their favor without nuclear weapons

[@jetserb]

Civilians killed ??? Lets calculate how long is war in Gaza going on and how many civilians are killed and how long is the SMO going and how many civilians are killed check the percentage and u gonna figure out right away that Russians never ever targeted Civilians on purpose in Ukraine, numbers dont lie ….

[@S-tank_]

Never assume that war doesn't have gender. Always politely ask which pronouns they them prefers

[@despertaferro1094]

Im confused why the hosts don't join the Ukranian Armed Forces 🧐

[@Centurion101B3C]

To each his/her own task to fulfill. I shudder to see some of the members of the host-team in any battlefield capacity. However in their role in the fight in given place and circumstance, they excell and are at their most productive place.

[@CliveofEngland]

No, they're happy to 'polish the turd' of the proxy army's failure as part of the lockstep western media propaganda effort.

[@rambojambo588]

​@@Centurion101B3C😂

[@user-ir2oo4wo3g]

Something I haven’t seen among the Russian women’s assault battalions. In this war for sure.

[@ASS_ault]

Урус, в стойло полезай.

[@Centurion101B3C]

My personal experience with women in the army goes back to the 1970s and 1980s in a European peacetime/coldwar environment. It took place at a juncture where the traditional roles for women were put to scrutiny and discussion and thus also subject to resistance from traditionally inclined army personnel. Nevertheless, there was even then a gradual acceptance of women in the army in roles that could potentially include combat. In that sense I would have to observe that in matters of personal resiliance and physical prowess in soldiering assignments, women generally outshone their male collegues to the point that I would find that I preferred having women in the more stressful and boundary transgressing assignments, since I found that aside from having to make a point of proving their mettle, their dedication to the objective(s) much mentally stronger and less subject to the constraints of personal deprivation of military life than their male counterparts. Their pain threshhold and their endurance in stressful situations, as well as their attention to essential details, are remarkably higher than that of most men in similar rank and function. It is my estimate and assessment that in current battlefield environments, as horrid and taxing these may be, these particular properties that women in general have proven to possess are essential to achieve the required vigour and lasting resilience to predictably achieve the set objectives. In short, when in a military pinch, I'd rather be finding a woman for the task at hand, since I found them to be more reliable and stable on the expected demands of the modern battlefield as we saw it then. As a Tank-commander, I would have welcomed a sharp female Hussar Tank-gunner over many of the men in the same role. As an Infantry troop commander, I would have happily had collegues or commanders in the roles of a female officer, NCO or specialist. In the staff functions that I later performed, I valued the analytic prowess and focus on detail in my female colleagues that was not overly distracted by matters of male machismo and that led to more thorough and qualitatively higher outcomes.

[@Doomer1984]

Typical Pongo after his trench bunny. Putting wrens on ships was a mistake, only continued with the decriminalization of homo in the military. Neither strengthened the fleet

[@jetserb]

So completely normal and natural for Women to be on the front lines instead of Men so why are we Humans so degenerated that we practiced completely opposite for more than 10,000 years in sending 99% only Men to wars. Here on the forums we finally came to conclusion that actual Military personnel is really dumb and. unsuited for any Philosophy or critical thinking : Under the helmet Brains dont bloom my Grandma used to say …

[@FaycalOuazine]

Never ask a man about his Salary, A women her age, and Israel about its evidence

[@Ultranationalist987]

100% 👍

[@user-sz2ji9yh8z]

......soooooo "cute"

[@levystein666]

Pretty much

[@Brit_Toolmaker]

Or a Russian about Democracy and Freedom?

[@CliveofEngland]

@@Brit_Toolmaker This question applies to our own country and definitely to the US Empire, toolmaker.

[@j.jwhitty5861]

I don't make a big emphasis on Males and Females at work in general, however; I'm proud of the females representatives that don't have a lot of military experience in Ukraine who are standing up for all our freedoms in the Western World, Слава Україн

[@bryanmoyna9715]

Ukraine might become the first country to officially acknowledge women existed in war. Not as the exception but the rule. Insecure men cant do it, its insulting to them to admit women also fought wars, even before any of us were born. The same goes for dark skin and lgtb soldiers, conveniently erased from white history.

[@777Electric]

Their troop well's run dry if they're coming out with these sort of statements.

[@SimonTmte]

What narrative are we pushing again, if Ukrainian women are so oppressed and discriminated against than shouldn't Russia liberate them?

[@anthonyhulse1248]

Because RuZZian women are free and equal?

[@robertsteele474]

@@anthonyhulse1248 They are not? Women's suffrage in Russia: 1917. Women's suffrage in the US: 1920.

[@georgine321]

@@anthonyhulse1248 Or RuZZian men?

[@Jazzisa311]

Lol no, Ukraine is getting rid of Sovjet sexism and moving towards more equality. The Russians are like, 1000 times worse.

[@v.5442]

Towards the end of the second world war, the Austrian painter once said: 'The military staff around me have been suggesting we enlist women for frontline positions. I fought in the trenches of WW1 and saw war break the strongest of men. If we start enlisting women, what we fight for is longer worth fighting for.'

[@laurie9557]

In WW2, German women snipers shot at my father.

[@anatoliypankevych4853]

Good thing he wasn’t a Jew, right? because otherwise deutschen Frauen would have been fighting the way Israeli women do now

[@panglayman5576]

That is backward patriarchal thinking. War is something that women have always been deliberately excluded from. Yes, there were exceptions like Boudica, but women have been historically deprived of seeking fame and glory on the battlefield, creating in them an inferiority complex after the war. Imagine how men would feel if they always had women fighting to protect them? This war could completely shatter one of the last barriers of gender differences if Zelensky could pull it off !!!

[@UpToDateMeme]

​@@laurie9557did they hit him?

[@panglayman5576]

As sad and as strange as it seems this war could finally result in women achieving complete equality with men and shatter the last remaining shards of backward patriarchal thinking. Especially in light of the fact that European males have always failed to defeat Russia in war. The feminist movement, if it adopts this cause and encourages women to fight, it could shame all of the males who dodged doing their patriotic duty and result in women achieving the final victory for both themselves and the West. There are already women generals and admirals in the West, so there is no reason they also could not also serve as frontline infantry troops.

[@solconcordia4315]

The Valkyries were *all* women for a very good reason.

[@richardmarsden5610]

Three launchers of the US Patriot anti-aircraft missile system were apparently destroyed by a tactical missile strike near Pokrovsk in the Donetsk People's Republic, sources told TASS. "The Iskander tactical missile system presumably wiped out three launchers of the US-made Patriot system near Pokrovsk," the sources stated. The same strike also liquidated Western mercenaries who operated the missile systems.

[@djketoldaluusbkabel585]

ZZZZZ

[@robertjones-iv7wq]

Add-on... The industries of all Allied nations, and those industries in Axis nations, relied almost entirely on the "stay-at-home" women to keep industry alive and producing ships, tanks, autos, guns etc... And to be the critical care personnel on the front and near front lines. So many women "filled the need" as required. Even the "underground" relied on women. Each, in their way were heroes. In Ukraine, women are on the front lines with guns & grenades. They are snipers, sergeants, and commanders. Yes there are the cooks etc..., but that's not the limit. Later, like it or not, without women fledging as mothers, there will be no continuing nation.

[@linmal2242]

My Dad met my Mum in an aero engine factory.

[@SteveBene]

Russian women excelled as snipers, and pilots on very slow planes. And they operated the production lines for the war industry. After wars they made babies to replace the dead men.

[@krazyswede11]

If Ukraine is preserving their soldiers at the front why are they recruiting women? Ellenskyy has performed an audit on the number of military personnel that Ukraine has and the audit came up with 700,000 that were missing. According to the 🌈🤡💩🌏 Telegraph all is mostly good in Ukraine 😂😂😂

[@SirDigby3601]

A lot of russian bots/trolls/vatniks in this thread..............

[@user-ir2oo4wo3g]

Said the Ukrainian behyaytse elf?

[@SirDigby3601]

@@user-ir2oo4wo3g Slava Ukraini

[@SirDigby3601]

@@user-ir2oo4wo3g Slava Ukraini

[@SirDigby3601]

@@user-ir2oo4wo3g Slava Ukraini

[@user-ug2vb2lk5b]

Russia is fighting on behalf of the truly free world a world free from American hegemony and bigotry Unlike Ukraine that has chosen to be on the wrong side of history

[@ottavva]

they indeed try to make a TAMPON ZONE this time

[@offshoretinker]

Er - running out of men are we?

[@TheSkaffen]

Lost 700k apparently, just went 'missing'.

[@anthonyhulse1248]

Running out of potatoes 🥔 are we?

[@APW554]

Er probably not comrade….

[@sergarlantyrell7847]

@@TheSkaffen "apparently" (according to the Russian MoD... famous for their 'accuracy').

[@tims7250]

Try not to judge people before having a chat together 👍

[@petergregory8864]

Boris approves of this message/

[@Paulus8765]

9:25 Britain is 24th on the list of countries sending aid to Ukraine, according to the Kiel Institute.

[@richardmarsden5610]

Nuland/Harris/Olena Zelenskyy leading sisters to shrapnel hell.

[@Mynewgalaxy]

❤ the world stand with UKRAINE 🇺🇦

[@UpToDateMeme]

Not really, some of the world does though, most doesn't care

[@bw5785]

Highly informative. Brilliant podcast.

[@rambojambo588]

😂😂😂

[@16252]

interesting, thanks

[@kevinhughes8749]

It is an episode of World Iwide's importance. How brutal and tragic their conditions are..The team seem even more focussed and united, after their recent travels.

[@user-gu1ti9me6i]

Thanks to us "good guys" winning the war, we now know that there are infinity genders.

[@harryflashman4542]

it appears that the definition of defending democracy and liberty means supporting infinity genders. Those that don't are obviously undemocratic despots and tyrants. Just look at the Ukraine, which has suspended elections, locked up opposition parties, free thinkers, and is kidnapping citizens off the streets to throw into meat waves, but they support infinity genders or they say they do, so they are liberty and democracy personified.

[@toddfromwork8931]

It's HER turn

[@laurie9557]

Right. And it's your turn to have half the babies. Fair is fair.

[@musicbygoldenj]

Can we calculate Ukrainian expenses per month re: 10k drones at approximately $300 million a month. - wages a month - drones ($300m) - ammunition - military vehicles - defensive missiles - food - health care - fuel

[@dimas3829]

nah, that would be too dangerous for your democracy. Corruption money needs to be pocketed for the western values to spread.

[@bleachdiet559]

Shout-out to the equal and brave 8 million Ukraini women who fled and left behind their sons and husbands 💛💙

[@dimas3829]

They wrecked numerous families on the West to get a new life with new husbands. Benefits of being young, beutiful and guilt-less, I guess.

[@Doomer1984]

Replace "brave" with "sensible"

[@kaczyLDZ1980]

NIE DLA UKRAINCOW W POLSCE

[@FactCheckerGuy]

Every sensible country saves its women. That is the only way to survive as a nation.

[@CM-ey7nq]

Very interesting. Perhaps I'm speaking out of turn here and not to make this overly political, but there are plently of cases where women in the military, being viewed as equal, has made a damned bit of difference. My Crossfit addicted niece at 24 did a helluva better job from day one than the majority of the male requites I've served with.

[@dimas3829]

exception to rule is not plentiful. Men are better soldiers than woman, period.

[@lesliefry9302]

THE EPISODE JUT GOT TOO WOK FOR ME

[@toddfromwork8931]

Oh that's convenient. It's HER turn. Get to the front lines, lady.

[@midimusicforever]

Send Ivan back to Moscow!

[@PeterHanson-nz6wu]

Watch the huge stampede, all the young Ukrainian men desperately trying to cross the borders into Moldovia, Romania and Poland. The front lines are now full of Ukrainian middle aged and old men, Zelensky is very worried.,.

[@mitchyoung93]

Actually it does...its feminine in both Russian and Ukrainian

[@glintongordon6811]

Ukraine is out of men and we are now sending women to the Frontline... There fixed it

[@CliveofEngland]

Oh no, that would never do. Couldn't have facts in a propaganda broadcast.

[@solconcordia4315]

Ukraine isn't running out of men. It's true though that having more women in the Ukrainian Armed Forces may allow rotations relieving the men who have been fighting for a very long time.

[@MrSwanseajames]

A video upload with no video. Stick to podcastng 😂

[@terryross2388]

Why do Western sources keep repeating the trope of Russian forces attacking with S300? The S300 is an air defense system. Russia has far more effective (and economical) missiles and artillery to be used against Ukrainian positions. Whenever one hears of civilian infrastructure being hit by s300 , it is a sure sign these are wayward attempts by the Ukrainians to shoot down Russian drones and missiles using the backbone of their air defense, the s300.

[@sirenarussell9250]

Good episode. Thanks everyone! I have to complain (again) about the excessive number of ads interrupting the show. It seems that we arenin a cycle where we complain and then it gets better, then they come back again. On the upside- I've been listening since the beginning. Keep up the good work.

[@kevinleecaster2698]

Hopefully France has recognized what a terrific domestic economic potential there is in building good relations with a democratic Ukraine similarly to their king's decision with us minus the economic benefits although they make a fair sum from Yanks I reckon

[@Canadian_Skeptical]

I remember seeing all these women in the infantry t the start of the war, and then they disappeared.

[@UzumakiNaruto_]

I don't think I ever saw females serving in frontline infantry units ever. The closest I think I've seen is some being snipers or medics who are sometimes seen on the frontlines patching soldiers up. That's about it. Never saw any Ukrainian women let alone units of them fighting on the frontlines.

[@richardmarsden5610]

Nearly out of available manpower and the most corrupt of regimes (outside of North America) now moving on to the genocide of it's own women folk. Are there no men left within Ukraine with any remaining morals to put a stop to this?

[@anthonyhulse1248]

Ruzzia has far more corruption than Ukraine

[@jesusromo1571]

Stop this nonsense war. No more military aid to Ukraine

[@richardmarsden5610]

If Russia wanted to hit this motorcade, it would have done it! Ukraine Russia has no plans to get rid of Zelensky! The official representative of Russia in the United Nations Security Council Dmitry Polyansky spoke about the crisis around Ukraine. kzbin.info/www/bejne/kGWTk6qumdeerZY Russian News

[@AdrianR2]

The argument "if Russia wanted to do X it would have done X" assumes a competence, which Russia has proved time and again that it does not have.

[@georgine321]

Dmitry (any Dmitry we get to listen to) is a fascist talking head. He is one of Russia's main propagandists. He is actually quite disgusting.

[@harryflashman4542]

Zelensky is helping the Russians rid Ukraine of nartsies.

[@MrGreg771]

The Americans, together with their European client states have kiboshed two peace agreements now, that could have ended the conflict before half a million people had been killed. The deal hammered out in Turkey in April 2022, has been summarised in the Wall Street Journal. Although they called it "punishing", the only punishment was for Washington's ambitions to put missiles on the Russian border. Oleksiy Arestovich has confirmed that the terms were extremely favourable for Ukraine, the most important being internationally guaranteed neutrality for Ukraine. Arestovich is now in exile for opposing Zelensky.

[@wesley135]

Slava ukraini

[@williammorris584]

Further Russian advances, elite Ukrainian brigades pushed back, losing quantities of top Western kit. Parts of Kharkiv area being evacuated by Ukraine. Continued Russian air strikes on Kharkiv and vicinity. Possible Ukrainian own-goal shootdowns. Russians using fiber optic reels to render their FPV drones immune to ECM. Smuggling of Ukrainian men attempting escape to Moldova is a thing. Podcast: victory through DEI. Come on, folks. Time, as in a couple of years, could favor Ukraine, but will they last that long?

[@anthonyhulse1248]

Yes, Tovarich, they will last two more years. Unlike your supply of potatoes 🥔

[@williammorris584]

@@anthonyhulse1248 Deep analysis.

[@FactCheckerGuy]

@@williammorris584 Better than your Russian propaganda, Boris.

[@tyllerboomgaarden7344]

A war so justified, Russians trick foreigners to fight it for them.

[@Hereford1642]

The Gurkhas are a fine regiment.

[@user-qm4ew5nd2d]

Im pretty sure it’s the Ukrainians being forced to fight or killed by the Ukrainian president “son of Russian Jews” …aren’t there many foreign nato mercenaries and so called “free citizens of the west” 🤡 fighting for nato in ukraine?

[@solconcordia4315]

@chrisviking7807 Of course, India knows that Russia is India's friend. Russia sells a lot of oil to India allowing India to refine it and sell the distillates to the E.U. for much profit. For India, it's jobs, jobs, jobs !

[@bgt54rfvcde32wsxzaq1]

NO SOUND ❌️ 🚫

[@Balmorax]

right? also no video

[@georgine321]

@@Balmorax Maybe check your volume. This is the podcast so no video here just audio which I can hear just fine.

[@Balmorax]

@@georgine321You were right, my volume was at 0. But still no video.

[@mike4480]

Technically, once there is a moving graphic..and sounds…then it is a video , so your Statement is false…💙💛💙

[@Balmorax]

​@@mike4480No, the squiggly lines are just an artifact of a corrupted upload.

[@Balmorax]

NO VIDEO ❌ 🚫

[@thebirdlady4304]

It's a pod cast... its the Ukraine flag 🇺🇦 and says Ukraine: the latest. That's how it always has been. For the past 3 years.

[@Balmorax]

@@thebirdlady4304I specifically remember watching Dom's pink face yapping... What's a pod cast? Do I have to cast it into some sort of pod to watch the video?

[@anthonyhulse1248]

The village called, they want their idiot back.

[@Balmorax]

@@anthonyhulse1248I ain't going back there no no more.

[@billyb6001]

Finally feminists are doing something useful

[@sissy-_-]

SUE.FOR.PEACE NOT.ANOTHER.DIME

[@camiloclarkson1122]

agreed, when russia agrees the same, not happening though.

[@sissy-_-]

@@camiloclarkson1122 Russia has sued for peace repeatedly. They have made concessions, and held back. It is Nato and Biden that have stopped peace.

[@anthonyhulse1248]

@@sissy-_-ridiculous

[@sissy-_-]

@@anthonyhulse1248 Why did the Minsk agreement and ceasefire fall apart in April or May of 2022, right after Boris Johnson visited Volodymyr Zelenskyy?

[@APW554]

When Russia goes home and stops fighting maybe…

[@kaczyLDZ1980]

WOŁYŃ 43! NIE WYBACZYMY

[@dkudlay]

What the hell are these idiots are talking about. First Woman in Space was Soviet. West is about 200 years behind russia and ukraine when it comes to respect and equality of women. Disgusting two-faced liars are the hosts of this show. Disgusting 🤢 🤮

[@philipmain5701]

Nonsense post

[@dkudlay]

@@philipmain5701 Tereshkova wasnt first woman in space? Pretty much for every womans right the soviets and Russia got there first. Pick a subject. Voting? Science? Russian women did it first.

[@georgine321]

@@dkudlay In Space. BFD. Russia is no bastion of equality and respect of anyone.

[@dkudlay]

@@chrisviking7807 youre not a Kelt. Youre the people who destroyed them. When Kelts were around, Russians and Kelts were SAME THING. The Kelts are literally from eastern europe. Read a book.

[@kaczyLDZ1980]

NIE _DLA _UPADLINCOW W_POLSCE