(Chassiv Yar, Dnipro and Kyiv) “Welcome to Chassiv Yar, my new home! » Olga Bihar, a conquering thirties with the figure of a model, jumps out of her van with a beaming air. His impeccable military fatigues stand out against the snowy coat. On this January afternoon, Donbass is shivering under a thick blizzard.
“It is from this city that I command my 150 artillerymen positioned around Bakhmout. My command post is buried a little further away. I am the first woman in the battalion to reach this level of responsibility, it’s incredible,” the officer said with a smile as she strolled through the middle of a neighborhood ravaged by bombs.
A crack of artillery splits the air, then a salvo of machine guns is lost in the sky. “A Russian drone must have been spotted,” explains Olga Bihar with a relaxed air, while drawing an electronic cigarette.
PHOTO ANTONI LALLICAN, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
White streaks rise above the town of Kramatorsk after Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense launched projectiles intended to neutralize a threat from the sky on January 12.
Two years ago, this mother was a lawyer in Kyiv. A week before Kremlin troops launched an assault on Ukraine, she rushed to shelter her son in the Czech Republic, then returned to volunteer in the army.
PHOTO ANTONI LALLICAN, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Olga Bihar leaning against a car from her battalion equipped with a drone jammer (on the roof) in Tchassiv Yar, a town in Donbass serving as a base for many Ukrainian troops deployed on the Bakhmut front and located 10 km to the west, January 14.
I grew up in Donbass, so I know the smell of war. I understood that Putin was going to invade us. I first served in the infantry during the Battle of Kyiv, then I moved to the artillery during the Battle of Bakhmut.
Olga Bihar, 32 years old
Her feats of arms made her famous as far away as Russia. Nicknamed “the witch”, vilified on enemy social networks, she is today one of the main women to be killed by the Kremlin troops. “In the eyes of Russians, being killed by a woman is a great humiliation. They have something to worry about: our army has more and more women! “, said Olga, giggling before returning to her position.
Women everywhere
In Kramatorsk, the large city behind the front, female soldiers are indeed omnipresent. At the shopping center, dozens of fighters on leave indulge in a little shopping, enjoy a coffee or parade to the hairdresser. Always impeccably made-up, some even go so far as to treat themselves to a manicure as soon as they leave the trenches. In this town within range of Russian artillery fire, the beauty salons are full.
PHOTO ANTONI LALLICAN, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Maria, 37, a former entrepreneur from the Cherkasy region, is now a chef in the Ukrainian army. She is seen here in a beauty salon in central Kramatorsk. Married to a soldier and mother of a 13-year-old girl, she has been involved in the army for around ten years. She continues to have her nails done every two weeks because for her “a woman remains a woman, even on the front line”.
Taking care of yourself helps maintain your mental health. It’s a suspended moment in the company of other women, where I can talk about my daughter who I never see.
Maria, 37 years old
This female presence on the front line underlines that the general staff in Kyiv is starting to lack soldiers. The first wave of civilians who volunteered to join the army, in February 2022, was decimated. The survivors, mobilized for two years, are often exhausted. Ukraine is therefore pulling out all the stops to replenish its troops. A mobilization law, currently being examined in Parliament, should soon make it possible to mobilize nearly 500,000 men.
The army is also trying to encourage vocations among Ukrainian women. Women’s uniforms were introduced in September.
Watch “Ukrainian Female Soldiers Get First Official Women’s Uniforms”
The most exposed combat positions, such as tank pilot or sniper, were open to women. Many of them are responding.
Nearly 43,000 Ukrainian women are believed to be serving under the flag today, an increase of 40% compared to pre-war numbers. And the phenomenon continues to grow. Gradually caught up in the violence, a growing number of civilians are moving from the rear to the front line.
“I fight for my children”
Anastasia Zrozhevskaia belongs to this category. Living with her husband Roman and their two children in a small apartment in Dnipro, the last big city before Donbass, this 34-year-old forensic doctor first volunteered in her free time to provide essential equipment to the soldiers. Faced with the failure of the Ukrainian counter-offensive last summer, she decided to join the “Hospitals”, a medical unit responsible for evacuating the wounded from the battlefield. In September, Anastasia was sent to Avdiïvka, a mining town in Donbass which fell into the hands of the Kremlin on February 17.
“My mission consists of waiting behind the fighting and rushing towards the evacuation point to recover the wounded, 500 meters behind the trenches. It’s very dangerous. During one mission, a 500 kg Russian bomb exploded a few dozen meters from us. I thought I would never see my children again,” she explains, stroking the golden hair of Lev, 2, and his sister Zlata, 4. The two toddlers are still too young to understand the risks faced by their mother. Does Roman, on the other hand, understand his wife’s devotion? “This creates some tension,” Anastasia said modestly, without elaborating further.
PHOTO ANTONI LALLICAN, ANTONI LALLICAN
Anastasia Zrozhevskaia, with her daughter Zlatozlava, 4, in the living room of their family apartment in Dnipro
I fight for my children. I want them to grow up in a European society, with a democracy, to be respected as citizens and not despised by their elite like common slaves, like the Russians.
Anastasia Zrozhevskaia, 34 years old
Prepare for the worst
Real training courses specially designed for women are emerging all over Ukraine. In Kyiv, Darya Trebukh created an association a year ago aimed at teaching small groups of women how to use weapons. A little over 1000 students were trained in one year. “Some want to know how to react in the event of the return of Russian soldiers. Others are uncomfortable with the proliferation of weapons in our society and want to be able to respond if something goes wrong. A good half are finally preparing to join the army,” she explains, placing a bag full of machine guns in the middle of a park in the Ukrainian capital.
Nine figures appear in the distance, staggering on an icy path. With their foam mattresses under their arms and their multicolored caps, the students of the day look more like a group of Sunday yogis than future soldiers. A few minutes later, however, they are kneeling in the snow and dismantling a Kalashnikov with their fingers reddened by the cold. After half an hour of examining their weapons, they move on to perfecting their shooting posture. Then comes the grenade throwing session.
PHOTO ANTONI LALLICAN, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Elmira, 30-year-old product manager, during combat training, January 21
Smiles are rare. Each of these budding fighters is aware that blank bullets could, one day, no longer be fake. “The fighting is here to stay and everyone will eventually have to take part in the defense of the country, in one way or another. So I decided to prepare myself to be ready if needed,” explains Elmira Timirova, 30, product manager in a young IT start-up. Beside him, his friend Katerina Rudenko nods, her huge blue-gray eyes lost in space. “It is now clear that this war will be long. Russia has a gigantic army and will not leave Ukraine in peace. Women are not affected by the mobilization, but this could well end up being the case. That day, I don’t want to be caught off guard,” she whispers sadly. An anti-aircraft alert suddenly splits the atmosphere. As it enters its third year, the war has not finished devouring Ukraine.