Ukrainian women are brave, we will win
AN elderly woman is helped across a flimsy plank amid the wreckage of a bridge over a swirling torrent as she flees her bombed home in Ukraine.
Walking stick in hand, she braves the crossing as Russian forces enter the city of Irpin about 15 miles north west of the capital Kyiv.
The wood under her feet slick with the cascading water, she does not let fear overcome her even as the soldier clutching her hand peers nervously at the river below.
She is one of the countless mothers, sisters and daughters across the nation whose courage continues to defy the Russian invaders as the world marks International Women’s Day.
Among them is 20-year-old medical student Mariia Yevdokymova. For nine days she held her nerve at home in the port city of
Odesa, determined to stay with her mother, father, younger sister and 86-year-old great-grandmother as the invaders closed in.
After finally giving in to fears of aerial bombardment of their city, she wept as she and her female relatives fled over the border into Moldova.
Mariia, whose father stayed behind to fight, said: “It has been difficult, but we have to be strong. I have only cried once since the war began, when we got to Moldova – when we crossed the border and stopped hearing the bombs and the sirens.
“When we couldn’t hear those sounds any more I suddenly cried. I realised what had happened.
“Now, though, I will be strong for my family and our country. “When all this is over, we will be back to rebuild.”
Hundreds of thousands of women like her have made similarly exhausting and perilous journeys to take their families to safety in bordering countries including Poland, Romania and Hungary.
Millions more are struggling to keep their loved ones safe at home as Russian shells and bullets rain down. President Volodymyr Zelensky’s wife Olena Zelenska is leading the fight to bring the truth to the people of Russia as the regime there clamps down on information, even outlawing the use of the word “war” to describe their invasion.
In a powerful post to her 2.3 million Instagram followers, the First Lady shared heartbreaking pictures of Ukrainian children who have been killed in attacks.
She wrote: “When people in Russia say that their troops are not hurting the civilian population, show them these pictures!
“Show them the faces of these children who weren’t even given a chance to grow up.”
She added: “Show these photos to Russian women – your husbands, brothers, compatriots are killing Ukrainian children!”
Across Ukraine women have taken up arms, bolstering the tens
of thousands already working with Ukraine’s armed forces.
MP Kira Rudik tweeted a picture of herself holding a Kalashnikov the day after war broke out.
She said later: “I’m so angry right now. I’m a woman, I have to bear arms and fight the tyrannies of those who want to take what is ours. When you are very angry, there is no place for the fear. I will be afraid afterwards. Right now I will have to get very strong, train and make sure that we have all of the supplies we need.”
Fellow MP Lesia Vasylenko, whose three children have been evacuated from their home in the capital, told how she kept her weapon with her at all times. She said: “I sleep with it, I work with it, I go to the bathroom with it, do I have a choice? No, I don’t have a choice.” Beauty queen Anastasia Lenna, who represented her country in the 2015 Miss Grand International, has also signed up to fight. She wrote on Instagram: “Nobody can stop new life! Nobody can stop us! Every day our women bring new babies. Our nation is powerful and strong! I dedicate my time to volunteering for my country.” While many have made their way out of Ukraine to safety, others have been making their way back to join the fight and protect their families there. Mother-of-two Yulia Peliukh-Korniichuk had moved to the Czech
Republic with her husband for work in January, leaving their children in Ukraine with family. But she returned last week. She said: “I want to see my children. I want to see my mother.”
She vowed to take up arms to fight for her country, but said conflict was not what she wanted.
“I want peace,” she said. “I don’t want war... Our soldiers are very brave. And also Ukrainian women are brave with them and I think that we will be OK. We will win.”
Before the invasion, as Russian troops massed on the border, 79-year-old Valentyna Konstantynovska from Mariupol was taught how to use an AK-47 assault rifle at military training. She said:
“I’m ready to shoot if something happens. I will defend my home, my city, my children.”
Grandmother
Raisa Smatko showed her support for the defence effort by preparing Molotov cocktails for the fighters. The retired economist said she was prepared to defend her part of Kyiv district against invaders, saying: “We are ready to greet them.” Liubov Tsybulska, an adviser to the Ukranian government, told how one woman had even managed to bring down a Russian drone with a jar of pickled cucumbers launched from her balcony.
Student Mariia adds: “Ukrainian women are strong and resourceful.
“We are tough, and all that will pay off for us. We are especially tough now.” They are compassionate, too. Nataliya Ableyeva, 58, brought a stranger’s children to safety in Hungary where they were reunited with their mother after border guards stopped their father from leaving Ukraine.
And then there are those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the course of their work.
Paramedic Valentyna Pushych was shot dead on her way to evacuate injured people from the outskirts of Kyiv. She was buried on Saturday.
Doctor Marina Kalabina was killed last week when her car came under fire as she took her wounded nephew to a hospital in the city.
As the fight continues, the women of Ukraine can take comfort and inspiration from their First Lady, who wrote: “Today I will not have panic and tears.
“I will be calm and confident. My children are looking at me. I will be next to them. And next to my husband. And with you.”