‘We will destroy the enemy’: Women redefine their role in Ukraine’s war 

Words: Alice Thompson Producer: Bianca Farmakis

These are the women of the Ukrainian resistance.

Two weeks ago, they were teachers, waitresses, mothers, daughters and civilians.

Now, after dropping off their family at the border, they have returned in army fatigues to redefine what women can achieve in war. Video: Twitter | Franak Viacorka

It is easy to see women as passive victims and casualties of conflict, yet every day produces more astonishing accounts of female defiance and bravery.

There is the old lady who hit a drone with a can of tomatoes, according to the MP Lesia Vasylenko, who is chronicling the war.

There is Valentyna Kostyantynovska, who learnt to fire a Kalashnikov at 79, saying: "It's my dream to fight for my country."

And there is the cookery writer Olia Hercules's elderly mother, who has taken up her frying pan to help her husband defend their farm. Image: Instagram | Olia Hercules

Meanwhile, civilian women have stood in front of tanks, confronting Russian soldiers. Video: Twitter | Visegrád 24

Russian TV employee Marina Ovsyannikova ran live on a Channel One broadcast to dispel disinformation, shouting: "Stop the war. No to war." Her sign read: "Don't believe the propaganda. They're lying to you here." Video: Channel One

Their figurehead is Olena Zelenska, an acclaimed screenwriter who never wanted her comedian husband to become President, saying she was "aggressively opposed". Now she has refused to leave the capital with her two children.

In a fortnight, Ms Zelenska's Instagram account, which has a following of 2.3 million, has gone from Duchess of Cambridge-style images to a plea to NATO states: "Save our children so that yours won't die tomorrow." Image: Instagram | Olena Zelenska

Image: Instagram | Vogue Ukraine Recently Ms Zelenska was on the cover of Ukrainian Vogue discussing equal pay. Now, women's magazines give advice on how to chop off acrylic nails and load a weapon.

Women made up 23 per cent of Ukraine's armed forces with 57,000 female recruits. In Kyiv, there are 87 female MPs, just over 20 per cent. According to the global gap index, Ukraine has closed 72 per cent of the gender gap in the last few years.

Ukraine is one of the few countries that now has a day's holiday for International Women's Day. Usually, they celebrate by giving each other flowers and the men spoil them. This year, they posted pictures of themselves carrying weapons.

Ukrainian women are incredible. Because of them we will win. Putin only counted the Ukrainian men, we’ve ruined his maths.

“ “ Kira Oleksandrivna Rudyk Ukrainian politician