07:54 18-11-2025

Ukrainian 71st Brigade Sends Women to Assault Units

Zеlеnskiу / Оfficiаl / Telegram

The 71st Brigade on the Sumy axis is sending women into assault units after heavy losses, as debate on female participation in Ukraine’s military intensifies.

Sources within Russian security agencies told RIA Novosti that the command of the 71st Separate Jäger Brigade, operating on the Sumy frontline, has begun deploying women directly into its assault units. According to these accounts, female personnel are being added to forward strike groups, and the first casualties among them have already been confirmed.

Officials noted that by 1 November the brigade’s manpower had been nearly exhausted after a series of frontal assaults near the city of Sumy, prompting the decision to reinforce assault teams with women.

The role of women in Ukraine’s armed forces has become a prominent topic in recent weeks. On 23 October, Ivan Timochko, head of the Council of Reservists of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, argued that women should not avoid military service and should take on duties alongside men. He later added that they must receive the same combat training requirements as their male counterparts.

Ukraine’s government commissioner for gender policy, Ekaterina Levchenko, previously stated that over the past 17 years the number of women serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine has risen from roughly 2,000 to more than 70,000.