At a training ground on the outskirts of Kiev, women run through an obstacle course and shoot Kalashnikovs. A first test for an important development: uniforms that finally fit.
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More than 42,000 women are employed in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, but they almost exclusively wear male uniforms.
The “Arm Women Now” initiative therefore collected donations to manufacture and sew several thousand women’s uniforms, which she then distributed free of charge to female soldiers.
“It’s very comfortable, it doesn’t restrict my movements because the waist is high (…) Everything stays in place and we’re mobile,” notes Alina Pyrenko, a military psychologist who received two work suits.
Alina wore this uniform last fall near the devastated eastern town of Bachmout, the scene of a long and bloody battle against Russian forces. She says she’s happy with the pants.
She recalls that when she joined the Ukrainian army, she was given “no uniform at all” for two months.
“Then they started supplying us with uniforms, but only gave us men’s sizes, which we then had sewn,” she explains.
Female soldiers in Ukraine usually have to have their baggy outfits adjusted or get women’s uniforms from the armed forces of other countries at their own expense.
“Men’s pants fell” from the hips, she says, pointing to her straight style.
No to men’s underwear
The NGO Arm Women Now, founded by Ukrainian women, has therefore designed a range of women’s military uniforms with fitted jackets, trousers with an adjustable waist and comfortable sports bras.
Everyone could soon benefit from it: the model is being tested with a view to being used throughout the Ukrainian armed forces. The organization is negotiating with the Department of Defense to make the uniform the standard.
“I want all women to get the uniform,” says the project’s founder, Iryna Nykorak, MP for former President Petro Poroshenko’s European Solidarity Party.
Last week, the Department of Defense said it was working to “meet the material needs of women military personnel.”
Deputy Defense Minister Denys Sharapov attended a presentation of the women’s model created by Arm Women Now and stressed that a “comfortable uniform is one of the most important elements because our women wear it every day”.
Arm Women Now has already provided almost 5,000 servicewomen with free equipment.
The range is extensive and includes combat underwear, which “is different from that worn by civilians,” explains Ms. Nykorak.
“As a result, it’s difficult for girls to find underwear that fits them and is comfortable in,” she adds.
For the winter there are also black and khaki long-sleeved tops and leggings, fleece jackets with zips and raincoats with a hood.
The straps feature multiple pockets and Velcro closures for size adjustment at knees and ankles.
“The most popular sizes are XS and even XXS,” emphasizes Iryna Nykorak, sizes that are very rare in men’s clothing.
“Women fighting in a war shouldn’t have to worry about what they’re wearing,” says Ms. Nykorak.
“When a woman takes up arms and defends her home, her family and her country, she should at least wear a comfortable uniform,” she adds. “A woman cannot fight in men’s underwear.”