A famous Ukrainian brigade launches the first recruitment campaign addressed to women: “Her power is the mind”

One of the most successful Ukrainian brigades has recently launched the first women's recruitment campaign in its ranks, reports Kyiv Independent.

Brigade paper photo

“Her power is the mind. Her choice is paper,” is the message distributed on all accounts belonging to the 13 paper in the National Guard of Ukraine in May.

The first appeal campaign aimed at women is meant to attract voluntary for technical positions in the army, such as the operation of drones.

About 70,000 women serve as volunteer soldiers in the Ukrainian army, who total almost one million soldiers, according to the data of the Ministry of Defense.

As Ukraine continues to face a critical deficit of staff on the battlefield, the army needs everything possible to attract new recruits. But for women often the army was not a welcoming environment, and the paper Brigade is among the units that want to change the situation, launching the message that women are welcome to fulfill roles.

A campaign to attract motivated recruits

After almost 3.5 years of war, the Ukrainian army is increasingly based on mobilized recruits, rather than on volunteers, which leads to the units often part of poorly motivated soldiers.

As Ukraine does not recruit women, volunteers are an extremely motivated, but underestimated category, according to soldiers and activists.

“Motivated women do a better job in any job than unmotivated men,” explains Alina Andreieva, drone operator in a recognition unit of the paper and the main engine of the campaign.

Andreieva, a photographer, reveals that the recruitment of women has been an almost obsessive idea for her since she enrolled, a year and a half ago.

The paper Brigade began in 2025 to collaborate with two NGOs, Dignitas Fund and the Dutch organization “Protect Ukraine” to launch the campaign.

Andreieva together with other women soldier from the Brigade were closely involved in the initiative.

Women hope that the new volunteers will follow them.

For example, a 21 -year -old nurse, with the “Jess” call sign, became a pioneer in terms of terrestrial robotic systems just a few months after joining the brigade.

“I quickly learned basic things, such as welding and assembly of communication kits for our drones and learned how the drones work, then I was able to propose new ideas – different flight controllers and what we could connect to them to do everything informative,” she told Kyiv Independent in a video interview.

The positions opened to women are: operators of terest robotic drones and systems, electronic war and information specialists, as well as Istar (Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance), integrated into a new NATO approach to the planning of combat operations.

“We need women in the stem fields,” explains Sofia Porcuvalova, 30 years old, who deals with public relations for paper and co-cretor of the campaign. “There are many women in Ukraine who can do it and their presence could make the brigade much stronger.”

A new military culture

Brigade 13 is recognized for incorporating NATO technology and standards into its fighting method and has become an exponent of reforms in military units together with the 12 Special Azov Brigade.

Since its establishment, in 2022, the paper has noticed in the post-Soviet army of Ukraine by its innovative management style, which cultivates a welcoming atmosphere for women.

Porcuvalova shared the discouraging experiences that her friends went through, who caused many women to give up the plans to join certain units.

“There are brigades who deliberately discourage women to join them, communicating this explicitly,” she said.

Unlike these, the paper Brigade noted through extensive mentality revision efforts, offering a fair treatment to each soldier in its ranks.

“I noticed that the recruits cultivated an impartial attitude towards women even during training,” says “Jess”.

“The paper was the only brigade at the time (when I enlisted in 2023), which took women for combat roles,” said Andreieva.

The opening to the recruitment of women is also reflected in figures: in 2025, about 5,500 women served in the Ukrainian army in fighter roles, compared to below 5,000 in 2023, according to official data.

“The commanders have always treated women equally. Priority was not the genre, but how well you do to do the job,” Andreieva added.

What can be said about the results of the campaign

An evaluation of the results of the campaign is expected no earlier this fall, according to the press officer of the 13th Brigade, Volodimir Dehtiarov.

Taking into account the initial interviews, the Medical Commission and at least two basic training courses offered by the National Guard and, in addition, by the paper, can take at least three months until an inexperienced recruit will learn the daily tasks of the unit.

“The results so far are not quantitative, but qualitative,” Dehtiarov told Kyiv Independent. Previously, women who rarely applied were interested in certain positions or now, more and more specific to work in the field of “communications” or “UAV” drones, inspired by the campaign videos in which the women in the paper tell about their work, he said.

Dehtiarov explained that Dignitas Fund, the non-profit organization that sponsors the campaign, also found donors to cover the costs of training dozens of recruits.

“But we have to occupy hundreds of positions and thousands in the fighting body,” he added, referring to both male and female recruits.

Paper officers expect the percentage of the women in the army to grow from this opportunity offered to women to join the fight.

“There will be many girls in the segment of drones as it favors the intellect, intuition and technical abilities,” said Igor Raikov, platoon commander in the Guided Rocket Company of the Brigade.

Future instructions, with a vast experience in modern war, could revolutionize military universities, where women face barriers in military education directly affecting their career advancement, comments Katerina Pryimak, a leader of the Ukrainian NGO Veteranka movement, which advocates women in the army.

“It is the right time for women who want to take things in their own hands,” Andreieva told Kyiv Independent in a written comment that he sent from his first line in the Kharkov region.

“Their spouses are either in the war or dead; their homes were destroyed, their loved ones killed or captured; they saw too much to stay for nothing,” added the volunteer from the paper Brigade.