News

For this period of time VETERANKA succeded closing 159 applications of help for soldiers and civilians. We send 471 714 UAH for help for the army. Made repairs of the soldiers’ cars worth 173 768 UAH. Provided with fuel worth 48 680 UAH. Handed out the medicines from the benefactors for over a 600 000 […]

Last week, together with Elbi hilft Ukraine, we completed and handed over to a hospital one of the VETERANKA’s large-scale projects – our evacuation ambulance bus that will save the lives of wounded soldiers. Together with Elbi hilft Ukraine, we repaired, repainted, refitted and delivered the evacuation bus to one of the military hospitals in […]

The story of Kateryna Pryimak is the story of a student of Drahomanov Pedagogical University, a cultural studies major, who in 2014 chose to join the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps of the Right Sector instead of a master’s degree. This is the path from a paramedic of the “Hospitaliers” in the hotspots of Piska, the Butivka […]

On March 6, the co-founder of VETERANKA, Kateryna Pryimak, made history as the first representative of the Women Veteran Movement to speak at the 67th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women as part of the official delegation of the Government of Ukraine. We are proud to have the opportunity to represent […]

Ukrainian Women Veteran Movement: for women, by women.

UWVM evolved from an advocacy initiative Invisible Battalion. Female veterans began advocating for the rights of women in the army. In 2018, UWVM was registered as an NGO to continue fighting for equal rights.

Since 2014 when russia first invaded Ukraine, thousands of women served in the Ukrainian Armed Forces — even if it meant fighting in men’s uniforms. Now, there is 60,000 women in the Ukrainian army. Our advocacy campaigns led to state law changes & now, women in the army are finally able to hold combat positions…

Brand SUPPORT by POUSTOVIT  presented collaboration with public organization Women’s Veteran Movement. The company released a capsule collection, in which 30% of the profit will be transferred to the needs of women at the front. The idea of ​​cooperation arose after Lilia Pustovit presented warm green hoodies to the entire movement’s volunteer team at the […]

The position of medic is still the top in the number of women in the army. A medic is far from always being on duty at an ambulance in a conditionally safe zone, it is also thousands of combat medics who save lives at ground zero. And there are many girls among them. In addition […]

Disclaimer: No, military girls do not “whine” or “complain”. And “indulgences” for military servicewomen are a disservice, a hidden danger and a dubious “privilege” for which you will certainly be guilty. This publication is for those who want to better understand why there is so much talk about the specifics of women’s service and the […]

Women’s Military Uniform There is still no concept of a women’s military uniform, even though there are already 60,000 women serving in the army and performing combat tasks where functionality is crucial for them. For some, it may seem like, “Well, what’s the difference? Who cares?” But there is indeed a difference because the uniform […]

2 months 2 million And 2 Defenders! Once upon a time, we realized that pickups are just pickups, but nothing can replace an armored all-terrain vehicle. And on top of that, the brave medics of the 46th Separate Border Defense Brigade had a request for increased mobility, and in their intense combat conditions, a pickup […]

How to deliver thousands of first-aid kits from abroad and raise money at a photo exhibition? It’s easy if you’re Andrianna Matskiv, a volunteer of the Women Veterans and head of partnerships. Before the invasion, Audrey was engaged in real estate and after Victory plans to concentrate on the recovery of the Ukrainian economy and […]

The leader of our Movement and our sister Andriana was wounded on the front and is currently in the hospital. This news has shocked many, as everyone knows her as a sincere and kind person, a loving mother, and a dedicated warrior. ” – Andriana 300, it’s serious, being taken to Kherson.” This short call […]

Valeriya Radchenko is a mother of two children, has master’s degree in psychology, a catering business owner, and a volunteer. Currently, she is a craftswoman in the manufacture of camouflage nets and kikimores at the headquarters of the Women’s Veterans Movement. Valeriya says: “Actually, it’s not hard work, but it requires responsibility. You can’t just […]

The volunteer movement in Ukraine is another front. A solid team of philanthropists based on the Women’s Veterans Movement NGO has been working in the rapid response headquarters in Kyiv since February 25, 2022. Over 9 months of full-scale invasion, about 300 volunteers worked in the headquarters, from drivers, project managers for humanitarian aid, inventory […]

She is an air reconnaissance scout, a junior sergeant, a mother. Iryna “The Unbreakable” Terekhovych has been defending our country since 2015, currently she is the commander of the 1st reconnaissance division of the 128th Separate Mountain Brigade of the Transcarpathian region. In November, we visited Iryna at the position and personally handed her many […]

Anastasiia has been in the army since August 2022. She was born in the Kherson region, worked as a journalist in Kyiv, her last place of work was the “Ukraine” TV channel. She changed the information front to the military front exactly 3 months after the loss of her beloved, Oleksandr Makhov – a well-known […]

Veronika Lytvynenko is a volunteer and designer of Women Volunteers. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine found the girl in Kyiv, and her entire family in Mariupol. She joined volunteering in the organization at the end of February 2022 – on the third day of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. She admits, this is what […]

Let’s be honest: what is it really like to be a woman in the military? Nadia Garan — sergeant of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, simultaneous translator, liaison officer. In this author essay, Nadia shares her vision of what women are missing in the military. About career growth, support, uniform and personal medicine – read […]

After our victory, our veterans will return home. It is our civic duty to provide them with decent conditions for rehabilitation and reintegration into civilian life. It is time to launch programs that take care of our veterans, both men and women. To this end, our veteran, a member of the Women’s Veteran Movement Board, […]

Stas Bitus is a clothing designer, now also known as a designer of women’s military uniforms from the Women’s Veterans Movement. Why Stas started sewing clothes for the military, how he met our paramedic Kuba and how fashion design differs from military design – read more in our interview.  Tell us about yourself and your […]

When I meet new people, I typically introduce myself as a housewife. I do this partly as a form of rebellion against the unfair stigma that is often associated with this term. At the same time, my decision to stay at home was primarily due to family circumstances. Over a period of three years, someone […]

Gena Tytov has been at the headquarters of the Ukrainian Women Veteran Movement practically since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. In peaceful times, he is a sculptor, an artist, and, in his own words, “a bit of a writer.” Read more about art during the war, victory and volunteering in this interview. How has […]

Nadiia Haran is a servicewoman, a simultaneous interpreter, a signaller. Tell me about yourself, how did your military career begin? University, Maidan, war. My parents pressured me to finish university, but I kept skipping philosophy department classes, spending time in the East instead attending charity events, working with children, and so on. Then I started […]

At peaceful times Dina was a project manager at a design company and taught languages. Now she is helping WVM with the management of internal projects and SMM. Read further about her personal insights, motivation and plans.

At the age of 20, Natalya Borysovska, who is now the commander of the  Field communication node branch, signed her first contract with the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It was in 2009. Now she has once again come to the defense of our state. Read more about her thoughts on the Ukrainian-Russian war in our […]

Alona is the first person you will see when entering the headquarters. Her workplace is at the reception of the Women Veterans Movement. She is the one who first responds to requests for assistance and works with their organization. She dreamed of becoming a volunteer, and for almost two months, she has been a member […]

Maya Moskvych is an activist, a participant of the Revolution of Dignity, a veteran of the Russian-Ukrainian war and an active service woman, currently serving as a senior soldier in the Second Separate Rifle battalion.  She is the first woman to join Ukrainian National team in the international competitions Invictus Games, as well as gold […]

From 2014 to 2017, she was a paramedic and a volunteer in various volunteer medical brigades. During the war, she improved her skills and conducted courses in tactical medicine for the military. From the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Victoria, in the Kyiv direction, in addition to providing medical aid to the military, participated in […]

Independence Day. It has been six months since we became a single monolith, fighting for it together. Six months of intensive work by our Rapid Response Headquarters. Misha is a sailor from Mariupol. After the start of the full-scale invasion, he switched to volunteering in our Rapid Response Headquarters. Moving cargo and organizing processes in […]

Yaryna Chornohuz is a Ukrainian poet and combat medic. Her story as a military began in 2014 when she joined the “Hospitallers” Medical Battalion.  “Focus” magazine named Yaryna one of the 100 most influential people in Ukraine. And today she protects Ukrainian borders along with the strongest marines in hot war spots.  Read more about […]

Independence Day. 6 months since we became as one. 6 months since we’ve been fighting tooth and nail for our independence. 6 months of intense work of our volunteer organization. Reporting on our expenses during this time. These numbers seem astronomical, but it’s just a part of all the work that we’ve completed. Completed thanks […]

Tell me about your military experience – how did you get involved in it, and what motivates you? My story began in 2014, when I participated in the Revolution of Dignity. In the spring of the same year, as one of the first volunteers of the Maidan, I went to the Luhansk region for 5 […]

She is extremely energetic and brave in the fight for a free Ukraine. She is not just saying that, but is ready to take risks and responsibility. Hanna Demidenko was an active participant in the Revolution of Dignity, including providing medical assistance. In the early years of the war in Donbas, she succeeded in fighting […]

There is a new “crush” in our Drone creation team. He is 14 years old and he create drones with his father for two years. Their joint hobby starts with the fact that the boy became interested in the FPV drones he saw on the Internet. He became so interested that was able to learn […]

The blood was running underneath two tourniquets… The battlefield is not a sterile operating room and almost one thing that could help to save life is a tourniquet applied correctly. There is also tactical safety briefings where soldiers from the different divisions can learn how to apply the tourniquet. This is the thing that usually […]

This cheerful woman can sing, comfort, and hug each of us sincerely every day. Teresa is in charge of the Ukrainian Women Veteran Movement’s Rapid Response Headquarters’ “Crispy Muscovites” Bar. It is here that the famous “Bandera smoothies” are made – the famous “Molotov cocktails” in Ukraine. She willingly shares how to mix a cocktail, […]

“We have nothing left. Everything burned down.” Elena adressed Ukrainian Women Veteran Movement with this phrase. Elena is from Hostomel. After the shelling on her house, the apartment and her belongings burned to the ground. After miraculously escaping, the woman and her children hid in the basements of destroyed houses for almost two months to […]

From the first day of the war, she spends the night with her three children and two grandchildren in one of Kyiv’s bunkers to protect her family from russian missile bombardment. From the first week she collects parcels with humanitarian aid and manages the product stock of the rapid response headquarters of “Ukrainian Women Veteran […]

On February 24, my mother called me and said, “Lena, the war has begun.” Honestly, I was in a very big shock. I couldn’t believe it. I did not hear any explosions. I woke my daughter up and said, “Get up, the war has begun.” On the second or third day of the war, my […]

She is always calm, even-tempered, and friendly. Also, she can speak openly and without loud words, it seems, about everything she has in mind. So the story of 24-year-old Veronica, a volunteer of the Ukrainian Women Veteran Movement, is presented in the first person. I had a normal life. I worked in a restaurant. Six […]

Maksym Sheremet, the developer of the first Ukrainian military drone for Berehynia reconnaissance operations and ex-constructor of Ukroboronprom, has set up his laboratory on the based in Ukrainian Women Veteran Movement not only to repair and modernize quadcopters but also to mass-produce own drones. The engineer spoke about the technical characteristics of man-made drones, their […]

On February 25, our NGO Ukrainian Women Veteran Movement opened a rapid response headquarters. During this time, dozens of volunteers joined it and thousands of people have already received the necessary assistance. On the day of the establishment of the headquarters, Kateryna Pryimak, Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Women Veteran Movement, started raising money for […]

The owners of this beautiful Maine Coon cat declawed him, which is a prohibited surgery, so that he wouldn’t damage the furniture. When they fled Kyiv at the beginning of the war, there was simply no room for him in their car, but it seems like there was no room for him in their hearts […]

Commanders are starting to realise that women make better soldiers than men, according to one combat veteran Women were the catalyst that brought the Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko’s 26-year-old regime to brink of collapse in the summer of 2020. Now across the border in Ukraine, women are pitching up to confront another patriarchal autocrat by enlisting in the […]

Many stereotypes are associated with women in war. Overcoming them will take more than one year of systematic and professional work. This became one of the priority tasks of the Ukrainian Women Veteran Movement organization, which was created in 2019 and now has representatives in all regions of Ukraine. Activists seek to change society’s attitude […]