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| That's when I became a sniper': Ukraine's women vets describe their war |
| 2019-11-27 |
| [American Military News] Hundreds of women were among the young Ukrainians who left their lives and jobs and families to resist the Russian-backed forces who invaded their country’s eastern region in 2014. With little training and no combat experience, these students, economists, academics, office workers, and mothers took on a variety of military roles, first as combat medics, then as snipers and intelligence gatherers. They endured the same harsh realities of war as their male counterparts, and a secondary insult: thanks in part to a selectively enforced Ukrainian law that bars women from combat roles, many were classified as seamstresses, cooks, or other non-combat vocations. The Ukrainian government has only recently begun to acknowledge their service and sacrifice. In October, I sat down with five of these Ukrainians to hear about their experiences, what has changed since they went to the front lines, and what the United States can do to help them. "I never imagined I would take arms. I don’t understand people who like to make selfies with a weapon," said Yulia Matvienko, call sign "Squirrel." She left her job as a civil economist in 2014 and became a medic. "During the first year of war, I believed [that] I, as a volunteer, could do everything possible to help the armed forces," she said through an interpreter. Matvienko worked at a morgue just behind the front lines, where her medical unit came under rifle and artillery fire. Eventually, she decided to take up shooting. "I understood that I am not effective as, like, a volunteer. I did everything [I could] to become a sniper. I became a sniper to kill the enemy," she said. It’s a job she held for more than four years. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #1 She become a sniper so Biden & co can make a few bucks |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2019-11-27 10:10 |