Front Lines Pregnant With New Life

"If a man hesitates whether to make a shot or not, a woman will never. Maybe that's why women are the ones giving birth, not men."

"[Being a sniper is particularly difficult, mentally and physically]...Because you can see what is going on. You can see hitting a target. This is a personal hell for everyone who sees that in a [sniper's] scope." 

"For 30 seconds I was shaking - my whole body - and I couldn't stop it. That realization that now you'll do something that will be a point of no return."

"But we didn't come to them with a war. They came to us."

"When I had just joined the special forces, one of the fighters came to me and said: 'Girl, what are you doing here? Go and cook borshch'. I felt so offended at that moment I thought, 'are you kidding me? I can be in the kitchen, but I can also knock you out'!"

"I came to my commander and I asked him, 'what can I do the best?' He said: 'You will be a sniper.'" 

Evgeniya Emerald, sniper in a Ukraine battalion

Evgeniya Emerald, pictured with her three-month-old baby, ran a jewellery business before the war

 

"It's terrifying -- every single day. You wake up wondering if everything is OK, if everyone is still alive [following nightly explosions]."

"You're constantly thinking about your child's well-being [as a pregnant soldier on the battlefield]. It was nonstop stress every day, combined with constant physical activity."

Nadia, 25, front-line radio operator 

 

"We have to protect our children. And we have to liberate the country for their future."

"I'm ready to assume responsibility that I am near the combat zone [pregnant] with my child. I do everything to protect her." 

"This is a long game, so we are needed."

Olya, 39, combat medic in Ukraine  

Kateryna Pryimak with fellow sisters from the Veteranka movement. Photo source: Women Veterans Movement. Ukrainer 

 

Women serving in some countries while at war see themselves removed from combat zones, but Ukrainian women in the military generally serve until they reach their seventh month of pregnancy in a military apparatus that the medical community and soldiers alike admit the Ukrainian military is ill-equipped to support their pregnant female soldiers. It starts with the uniforms they're given, not meant to clothe a pregnant woman and goes on to a deficit in neo-natal care during a costly war.

 

Pregnant Ukrainian soldiers -- hardships aside -- feel motivated to serve for a very good reason -- concern over Ukraine's future. "Our children are the future of this country", emphasized Olya, 39, Ukrainian combat medic, whose daughter was born in late May. And once a child is born their military mothers face another dilemma... how long they should remain at home with their babies before resuming their military position during a time of intense conflict. 

 

Zemliachky has bought and sent about 30 military uniforms to pregnant soldiers since the war began, the organization's founders said. Courtesy of Zemliachky

 

Following her baby's birth, Nadia explained that she was given 126 days of paid leave should she wish to return to the front. The alternative was to take three years unpaid leave, to raise her child in infancy. She chose the three years. She had worked as a front-line radio operator until she reached eight-and-a-half months in her pregnancy. She experienced how difficult a pregnancy can be under those circumstances. 

The clinic she relied upon for ultrasounds had closed. 

 

This is a brutal war, with many servicemen on both sides wounded or losing their lives. Lost lives in the tens of thousands for both Ukraine and Russia. The Ukrainian military, like Russia's, has experienced great difficulties in their recruitment efforts among young men. The women who join the military are all volunteers; their willingness to serve is a counterpoint to that of the men who are expected to serve. Since the Russian invasion of their country in 2022, the number of women serving has grown to 70,000.

 

The experience is not a salutary one by any means. Conditions are fairly tough under relentless shelling, having to live without heat n the winter, and the absence of running water and toilets. Major Viktoria Kravchenko is a psychologist whose 16 years of service in the military has given her ample opportunity to research sexism in her nation's armed forces. Women who become pregnant, she affirms, can face barriers; commanders who question their decision to return to the fray following birth, much less their fitness to serve.

 

It soon became clear that servicewomen needed a lot more than uniforms. Everything from smaller boots to lighter plates for bulletproof vests to hygiene products is in demand.

 

"It's no secret that gender bias exists", she states. Giving support to female enlistees there are private entities. Zemliachky is a group that produces maternity uniforms for female soldiers. Another, Kvitna, offers women's health care from a mobile clinic. "There was an urgent need", explained Taras Yeftemii, a gynecologist with Kvitna. The mobile clinic screened 573 female soldiers on a recent rotation, five of whom were pregnant.  

 

Initially, Olya, the senior combat medic, fearful that she might get reassigned, told no one of her pregnant state. A bleeding incident put her in hospital, finally forcing Olya to inform her commander of her pregnancy. She was advised by medical staff to "take it easy"; an order difficult to comply with since she was the sole medic in her company. The issue was partially solved when her commander arranged for Olya to refrain from entering combat positions.  

 

At hospitals in Ukraine, women and hospital staff face terrible danger: circling drones, artillery, ballistic missiles and the targeted degradation of healthcare infrastructure.

 

Drone Wars

"At night we do bombing missions, and during the day we think about how to get new drones."

"We're examining every possible way to export drones from China."

Oles Maliarevych, 92nd Mechanized Brigade officer, Ukraine 

A photo on SHUBBA-Octagon's website shows a DJI drone armed with an explosive.

 

In a basement eight kilometers from the front lines of the conflict Russia imposed upon Ukraine, soldiers from the 92nd Mechanized Brigade work on a deadly supply chain of cluster munitions, thermobaric bombs and drones. Where hobbyist drones are converted to combat weapons. One soldier attaches a modified battery to a quadcopter to enable it further flight. On the battlefield, pilots zip-tie a homemade shell to the bottom of the device to crash it into Russian trenches and tanks as human-guided missiles.

These airborne vehicles are so effective that those who modify them find it difficult to keep up with demand. Yet sourcing new supplies is of and in itself a full-time occupation. The conflict in Ukraine has become a war of drones. Leaving those who use them heavily reliant on supply sources. Large, military-grade drones are produced by Iran and Turkey, while the inexpensive consumer drones largely are supplied from China. Suppliers from China have yet to keep up their supplies that Ukrainians reconstitute to weapons-grade.

Chinese manufacturers such as DJI, EHang and Autel churned out drones at an ever-increasing rate over the last decade. Now, however, Chinese suppliers have become less reliable, less willing to expand and continue their sales production. New rules restricting export of drone components took effect a month ago. The traditional Chinese drone producers who produce millions annually outpacing other countries with DJI holding over 90 percent of the global consumer drone market, have suddenly become sales-shy.

 

Ukrainian soldiers of the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade, named after King Danylo, prepare to operate the test flight a new FPV drone in the training area as soldiers test their new military equipment as Russia-Ukraine war continues in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on August 03, 2023.

Wojciech Grzedzinski/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

In the past few months sales of drones and components to Ukrainians by Chinese companies have been cut back. Those Chinese firms agreeable to selling their products often require buyers to resort to the use of intermediary networks for their purchase orders. Ukraine is in dire need of drones and constituent parts and is prepared to beg, borrow and smuggle what they need. Through use in the conflict, an estimated 10,000 drones monthly require replacement.

There are fears rising that China's new restrictive rules on sale of drone components could deleteriously impact the supply chain that Ukraine is so dependent on. Which advantages Russia. Direct drone shipments by Chinese companies to Ukraine totaled just over $200,000 in 2023 to June. Russia, on the other hand, received $14.5 million in direct shipments during that same time frame.

However, Ukraine managed to obtain millions in Chinese-produced drones and components, most arriving through European intermediaries, according to customs data. Drones for reconnaissance, to drop bombs, and to use as guided missiles remain the Ukraine military's focus. $1 billion has  been earmarked for a program to support drone start-ups and drone acquisition efforts.

 

Ukrainian operators fly DJI drones at a training area in August.

 

Mavic, an easy-to-use quadcopter produced by DJI during the first weeks of the war were what Ukrainian soldiers relied on. Then the company announced plans to discontinue its business in Russia and Ukraine. Volunteers took to bringing in the copters by the thousands to Ukraine, mostly from Europe, while Russia discovered new channels through friendly neighbors, at the same time continuing to order and receive Chinese export drones.

Hobbyist racing drones strapped with bombs to act as human-guided missiles are also on the front line scene this year. F.P.V.s, for first-person view, in reference to the manner in which the drones are remotely piloted with virtual-reality-like goggles are sold by a few mostly Chinese companies, along with their components. Volunteers and companies work to acquire as many F.P.V.s as possible, with Ukrainian suppliers reckoning that soldiers likely require up to 30,000 of the devices monthly.

In competition with Russia to acquire F.P.V.s from Chinese firms, Ukraine deals with Russia having the advantage since it can bid higher and order larger batches. From the perspective of Chinese producers, additionally, selling to Russia has the advantage of being politically safer, in view of the solidarity expressed between Moscow and Beijing.

"Today, we virtually do not use any Chinese components", revealed Ukrspecsystems, a Kyiv company that manufacturers fixed-wing reconnaissance drones, a result of supply chain issues leading it to search for the requisite supplies beyond China.

A Ukrainian soldier in Kherson prepares to operate a commercial DJI Mavic drone