Women in combat: the untold story of modern warfare

Today, there are nearly 70,000 women serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. More than 10,000 are fighting directly on the frontlines. They are not there because of a quota. They are there because they wanted to serve, and serve they are, proving that women are essential to the military.

The drone revolution: where women excel

The character of the fight has altered. No longer is strength the limiting factor. Now it’s precision, focus, and problem-solving. Women fly the latest FPV drones, command unmanned systems units, and conduct intelligence missions in Ukraine. The Khartiia Corps claims a 20 percent increase in female recruits for combat technology positions. Why? Because a 26-year-old woman operating a drone from a basement 5 kilometers from the front lines doesn’t need to lift 200 pounds. She needs math skills, discipline, and the ability to stay cool under fire.

Monka left restaurant management to become a drone pilot. Imla left professional hockey to operate unmanned systems. These aren’t people seeking alternative roles. They’re choosing the most demanding, high-tech positions available.

„The more technology we have, like drones, the more historically male professions open up,” says Volodymyr Dehtyarov, spokesman for Khartiia Corps. And women are filling those roles with expertise that’s indispensable.

The faces behind the data

Olena Bilozerska was a communication trainer in Kyiv before the war. Now she’s infantry, clearing trenches and serving alongside men she trained with. She was decorated by President Zelenskyy for her courage.

Oleksandra worked in a bakery. Today she’s a sniper. At 100-meter ranges she practices, her targets are precise. On the frontline, her targets are over a kilometer away. Not brute force but mathematics and discipline.

Tetyana Chubar commands artillery. Liubov Plaksiuk commands artillery. Inna Derusova, a field medic, saved over 10 soldiers in the opening hours of the invasion before she was killed. She was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine.

These aren’t symbolic promotions. These are competent officers and soldiers performing under conditions that would break most people. In the Hospitallers Medical Battalion - elite combat medics operating under direct fire - women comprise a disproportionate share. Not because the unit made special accommodations. Because women volunteered, met the standards, and kept their patients alive.

Doubling the talent pool

Ukraine didn’t have the luxury of debate. Conscription had drained the young male population by 2022. Ukraine needed more soldiers and more soldiers with specific skills in cyber warfare, intelligence gathering, logistics, medicine, and emerging tech.

But what happened next? Mixed units with good leaders became more productive.

Ukraine went from 42,000 female soldiers in 2023 to over 70,000 in 2025. Not because of ideology. Because all engineers, all drone operators, all medics, and all thinkers are replaceable.

„We need everyone - engineers, pilots, IT specialists, programmers,” says Monka. „We simply need brains. It’s not about men or women. We need people who are ready to work hard.”

A model for military excellence

Every military that has integrated women into all combat roles has discovered the same thing: it doesn’t weaken the force. It strengthens it.

The United States, Britain, Germany, France, Canada, Australia, Poland! These are militaries that opened every combat role to women. None of them regretted it. All of them benefited from accessing talent they’d been leaving on the table. Poland has increased female military service by 15 percent year-over-year. Not through quotas or mandates. Because the military realized that capable women make the army stronger.

Why this matters

On International Women’s Day, it’s worth celebrating not just that women are finally allowed to serve in combat roles. It’s worth celebrating that they’reexcelling in them.

Olena clears trenches. Oleksandra shoots with precision. Monka flies drones that disable enemy armor. They’re not doing this for recognition. They’re doing it because their country needed them, and they answered.

That’s military excellence. That’s what happens when nations mobilize their full potential. Ukraine is showing the world what modern military strength looks like when you stop telling half your population they can’t fight.