Hello!

I'm Maxim Polyakov, a correspondent for the online magazine ‘7x7’.

Over a thousand women have aligned themselves with the Russian military in the war against Ukraine. They operate drones, manage communications, participate in assaults, and contribute to military hospitals and field kitchens. In this newsletter, I will delve into why Russian women choose to go to war and how the government encourages their involvement.

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

Context

To provide a comprehensive understanding, here are some key facts:

• The exact number of Russian women engaged in the conflict against Ukraine remains unknown.
• Approximately a year ago, Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu disclosed that there were 1100 Russian women on the frontlines. This represents the latest official data obtained by ‘7x7’. In October 2021, Shoigu asserted that "many women go to war as volunteers and perform their duties as well as men do." In total, there are over 39,000 women in the Russian military forces.
• Anastasia Morozova, a resident of Khanty-Mansiysk who was wounded in combat, mentioned in an interview with Muksun.fm that, based on her observations, the number of women at war is significantly higher than reported by authorities. These women serve as clerks, doctors, and law enforcers. Morozova served in Chechnya and, subsequently, in Donbass after 2015. Despite being wounded, she faced challenges in obtaining the promised compensation; the funds were only disbursed after she sustained a second injury. Following this, Morozova made the decision to return to the frontlines.
• The Ministry of Defense is not the sole entity recruiting women. In November 2023, the Hispaniola battalion, formed by Russian football fans, called on women to join storm troops as snipers, communication officers, medical workers, drone pilots, and members of reconnaissance and electronic warfare units.

How Women Were Recruited

During the initial months of the war, officials seldom commented on women participating in the conflict. It appeared that the Kremlin had not yet solidified its stance on this phenomenon. However, there was a shift in autumn 2022.

The mobilization, declared in September 2022, applied to women liable for military service as well. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Defense stated that this would not affect them regardless of marital status, profession, and the number of children.

Pro-government media began publishing texts suggesting that, with rare exceptions, women had no role on the frontlines but could contribute by collecting humanitarian aid, weaving camouflage nets, and knitting socks and mittens. Publications highlighted the #МЫВМЕСТЕ (#WEAREONE) project, gathering aid and funds to rebuild infrastructure in the 'new regions.'

At the same time, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko advocated for giving women the opportunity to participate in military operations. Pro-government websites disseminated tips on how Russian women could become volunteers. Chernyshenko’s claim was supported by State Duma Lower House Defense Committee member Evgeniy Lebedev, who encouraged women to sign military contracts.

An upsurge in campaigns promoting Russian women's involvement in war occurred in the spring and summer of 2023. Advertisements for military contracts targeting women appeared in Tyumen Oblast in April. Online forums and chats, including those for women with children, such as the 'Mechta' ('Dream') maternity and childhood center website and the Woman.ru web portal, featured queries like "Can a woman go to the special military operation zone?" Regional media published instructions titled "how ladies can join Russian soldiers."

Women’s Roles At Warzones

My colleagues from "7x7" spoke with several dozen women about their decision to go to the frontlines; many responses echoed each other. I have selected the most interesting ones to share with you.

• Marina Bakhilina, a mother of many children from Yakutia, signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense because her two sons were involved in the war. On the frontline, Bakhilina became a cook. Previously, she held the same position at the "Bereginya" center in Yakutsk, providing assistance to orphaned and parentless children.
• Yulia, whose husband is an engineer servicing military trains, grew weary of anxieties and uncertainties, so she signed a contract herself. Initially helping with household chores, she acquired the profession of a telecommunication specialist and later began working in her new field.
• Olesya Didenko, a 39-year-old librarian and mother of three from the Krasnodar region, signed a contract. She lacked medical education and military service experience. While her service application on "Gosuslugi" was approved, the draft board rejected it. Undeterred, Didenko attended a two-month training course and became a junior nurse caring for the sick. She was then assigned to work as a personnel officer in Siberia. "I need to get there [to the warzone]. I went to sleep and woke up with this thought. Everyone says: it's not a woman's duty. But who decided that only men have duties to the Motherland? Semyon [husband] didn't like the idea; he had seen a lot, having been in Chechnya. But I stood my ground... I told my eldest son: Vlad, I want to serve! — Mom, do you really need this? — I do. I feel it in my heart," explained Olesya.
• Typically, authorities claim that women are not on the frontlines; however, reality proves otherwise. In the summer of 2023, News.ru reported on grenade launcher Tatyana with the call sign Kiku. She went to Donbass with her husband, a Czech citizen, in 2013. Two years later, she began fighting with the 100th brigade of the “Donetsk People's Republic,” mastering the use of a grenade launcher. ‘Argumenty i facty’ (‘Arguments and Facts’) media outlet wrote about female stormtrooper Kristina with the call sign Witch from the ‘Somali’ battalion. Before going to war, she worked as an administrator in Novokuznetsk. "I helped doctors, and then I persuaded commanders to try me as a stormtrooper. My first mission was in Maryinka [a settlement 30 km from Donetsk]. After that, I stayed in the infantry," Kristina recounted.

How Propaganda Inclines Women Towards The War

This question has been explored by Sasha Starost, an analyst of the Free Russia StratCom propaganda team. She identified several goals of this state’s campaign: to prevent grassroots movements from emerging; dominate the agenda and prevent criticism of the authorities; create an image of a woman that would be convenient for the state.

Propaganda glorifies women, depicting them as holding no less important roles than men. The narrative of ‘women as heroines of wartime’ extends to teenagers as well. Thus, the militarism propaganda in educational institutions is gender-neutral. This contributes to shaping the image of a state constantly defending itself, with women and men merging in the collective struggle.

— The soldier's wife is no less heroic than the soldier himself. There are many texts where propagandistic media somehow plays on this theme: about how women help participants of the ‘SMO,’ how they together achieve positive changes for their husbands at the front, and so on. The hero's wife has a very specific image. On the one hand, she does something for those at the frontlines. On the other hand, she never asks for help. Thus, widows who have lost their husbands continue to assist the front and reluctantly accept help from the state, - said Starost.

The second propaganda narrative relates to a woman's reproductive ability. She is assigned the role of a mother giving birth to defenders of the Fatherland. This message inevitably includes campaigns advocating abortion restrictions. Chairman of the Patriarchal Commission on Family, Motherhood, and Childhood Feodor Lukyanov claims that Russia lost 27 million people due to abortions, comparable to losses during the Great Patriotic War. According to Sasha Starost, this serves to create an image of future Russia: isolated and constantly defending itself. However, this narrative is not popular among women as it concerns the violation of their reproductive rights.

The third narrative of propaganda pertains to the economic aspect. After the mobilization, hundreds of thousands of people left Russia, and many enterprises currently face a shortage of workers. Russian authorities are now more frequently calling on women to fill the vacant positions. Additionally, the authorities want to lift the ban on 100 professions prohibited for women in Russia, including objectively challenging ones in the mining industry. This decision, however, has nothing to do with feminism but with economic benefit.

There is also another tool to influence the women’s minds, such as professional photo projects. A vivid example of this is the exhibition ‘Hero's Wife’ that took place in the Samara region on September 2, 2022 and featured 50 portraits of women whose husbands went to war. The project is supervised by the wife of Lieutenant General Andrey Kolotovkin, Ekaterina Kolotovkina. According to the expert of Free Russia StratCom, such content is in demand among women. The same can be said about the government structures' work with the female audience in general. Mothers, wives, and relatives of servicemen adopt narratives transmitted by the authorities.

— This fits well with what feminists would call female gender socialization, especially if we are talking about women in Russian regions. The state says: despite the fact that a woman is seemingly a weak creature, when men are overcoming struggles, she also must be resilient. The image of the soldier's wife is familiar to all of us from school, so it works, — concluded Sasha Starost.

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