(Kyiv) At a training ground on the outskirts of Kyiv, women run through an obstacle course and shoot Kalashnikovs. A first test for an important evolution: uniforms finally designed to fit.
More than 42,000 women are engaged in the Ukrainian armed forces, but they wear almost exclusively male uniforms.
The “Arm Women Now” initiative therefore collected donations to create and sew several thousand uniforms adapted to women, which it then distributed free of charge to female soldiers.
“It’s very comfortable, it doesn’t limit my movements because the waist is high […] Everything is held in place and we are mobile, ”says Alina Pyrenko, a military psychologist who received two trellises.
Alina wore this uniform last fall near the devastated eastern town of Bakhmout, the scene of a long and bloody battle against Russian forces. She says she is satisfied with the pants.
When she joined the Ukrainian army, she recalls that for two months she received “no uniform at all”.
“Then they started to provide us with uniforms, but only giving us men’s sizes, which we then had sewn up,” she explains.
Female servicemen in Ukraine usually have to have the baggy outfits they receive adjusted or procure women’s uniforms from the armed forces of other countries at their own expense.
“Men’s pants fell” from the hips, she says, gesturing to their straight style.
No to male underwear
The NGO Arm Women Now, created by Ukrainian women, has therefore designed a set of women’s military uniforms with fitted jackets, pants with adjustable waists and comfortable sports bras.
All could soon benefit from it: the model is being tested with a view to being deployed throughout the Ukrainian armed forces. The organization is negotiating with the Ministry of Defense to have the uniform become standard.
“I would like all women to receive the uniform,” says the founder of the project, Iryna Nykorak, deputy of the European Solidarity party of former President Petro Poroshenko.
Last week, the Ministry of Defense assured that it was working to “meet the material needs of female military personnel”.
Deputy Defense Minister Denys Charapov attended a presentation of the female model created by Arm Women Now, stressing that “a comfortable uniform is one of the most important elements, because our women wear it every day” .
Arm Women Now has already provided a free kit to nearly 5,000 female soldiers.
PHOTO SERGEI SUPINSKY, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
The model is being tested for deployment throughout the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The organization is negotiating with the Ministry of Defense to have the uniform become standard.
The range it offers is very extensive and includes underwear for combat missions, which are “different from those worn by civilians”, explains Ms.me Nykorak.
“So it’s hard for girls to find underwear that suits them and feels comfortable in,” she adds.
For winter, there are also black and khaki long-sleeved tops and leggings, fleece jackets with zippers and hooded raincoats.
The trusses have multiple pockets and Velcro to adjust the size at the knees and ankles.
“The most popular sizes are XS and even XXS,” says Iryna Nykorak, sizes that are very rare for men’s clothing.
“Women fighting in a war shouldn’t have to worry about what they’re wearing,” Ms.me Nykorak.
“If a woman has taken up arms and is defending her home, her family and her country, she should at least have a comfortable uniform,” she adds. “A woman cannot fight in men’s underwear.”