As tech advances, Ukrainian women embrace combat roles

Drones reshape the battlefield, open new paths for female soldiers

- By HANNA ARHIROVA

A UKRAINIAN drone operator from the Kraken 1654 unit, call sign Imla, flies a drone in a demonstration in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine.

(Photographs by JULIA DEMAREE NIKHINSON Associated Press)

When Russia’s full-scale invasion began nearly four years ago, a 26-year-old soldier known as Monka didn’t see a combat role she could do.

But that changed as technology reshaped the battlefield and opened new paths.

Last year, she joined the military as a pilot of short-range, first-person view, or FPV, drones after giving up a job managing a restaurant abroad and returning home to Ukraine to serve.

Her shift is part of a larger trend of more women joining Ukraine's military in combat roles, a change made possible by the technological transformation of modern warfare, military officials say.

“The fact that technology lets us deliver ammunition without carrying it in our hands or running it to the front line — that’s incredible,” said Monka, who serves in the Unmanned Systems Battalion of the Third Army Corps.

She and other women followed Ukraine's military protocol by identifying themselves using only their call signs.

More than 70,000 women served in Ukraine's military in 2025, a 20% increase compared with 2022, including more than 5,500 deployed directly on the front line, according to Ukraine's Defense Ministry.

Some units have tailored recruitment efforts toward women, expanding rosters in a sign that Ukraine is looking to strengthen and expand its army even as peace negotiations discuss a possible cap on the future size of the military.

Leaders in the capital, Kyiv, as well as many soldiers like Monka, see the army as one of the few security guarantees that Ukraine has against Russia.

“We need everyone — engineers, pilots, IT specialists, programmers. We simply need brains. It’s not about men or women. We need people who are ready to work hard,” she said.