Women are now among the thousands of migrants from Central Asia serving in Russia’s military, including on the front lines in Ukraine. The Uzbek human rights organization Ezgylik has received letters from the parents of young women from the region serving prison sentences in Russia who say that their daughters are being offered 2 million rubles ($26,000) for one year of military service in Ukraine. 

Russia’s Ministry of Defense has been sending women to Ukraine to fill a range of military roles for the past four years. Some were among the tens of thousands of women already serving in the armed forces when full-scale war began in February 2022, while a small number of women with medical training were called up in the partial mobilization the following September. 

In 2023 reports began to emerge of efforts actively to recruit women for the war. These included seeking women for support roles such as cooks and medics, as well as attempts by the Borz Battalion of Redut, a mercenary group under the control of the Ministry of Defense, to attract women to serve as snipers and drone operators. That same year, Russia began recruiting soldiers from women’s prisons — a practice that is now bringing not only Russians but also women from other countries into the armed forces. 

So far Russia has not sought to draw attention to the participation of women in military roles in its war in Ukraine. This is in sharp contrast to the attitude shown by the Ukrainians, who quickly opened all military roles to women, including combat roles, and proudly point to the presence and contribution of women soldiers as a symbol of the country’s commitment to gender equality. 

In Russia, though, the reality that there are women in the military serving side by side with men contradicts the image that President Vladimir Putin wants to........

© The Moscow Times