Today is International Women’s Day. Over 70,000 women serve in Ukraine’s military. Thousands fight on the front line.…

Today is International Women’s Day. Over 70,000 women serve in Ukraine’s military. Thousands fight on the front line. Medics. Snipers. Drone pilots. Infantry. They are not just defending Ukraine. They are defending freedom itself. Thread 🧵

Yuliia “Taira” Paievska — a combat medic who saved hundreds of lives. For years she evacuated wounded soldiers and civilians from the front lines. During the siege of Mariupol, russia captured her. After 3 months in captivity, she was finally freed.

Inna Derusova — a combat medic of Ukraine’s 58th Brigade. In the first days of the full-scale invasion, she carried wounded soldiers from the battlefield under heavy fire. She was killed on Feb 26, 2022. Inna became the first woman posthumously awarded the title Hero of Ukraine

Yaryna Chornohuz — a Ukrainian poet and combat medic, callsign “Yara.” Her fiancé was killed in the war, yet she stayed on the front line, saving soldiers and civilians with the 140th Recon Battalion of the Ukrainian Marine Corps.

Maryna Vorontsova — a combat medic who fled russian occupation in Luhansk. She joined the army and spent years saving wounded soldiers on the front line. She was 50 years old. Maryna died doing exactly what she had done for years — saving others.

Mariia Berlinska — one of the pioneers of drone warfare in Ukraine. She volunteered after the Revolution of Dignity and became an aerial reconnaissance operator. Later she founded a school that trained soldiers to use drones on the battlefield.

Lt. Kateryna — Ukraine’s only female combat helicopter pilot in her brigade. She flies Mi-8 missions to supply troops and evacuate the wounded from the front line. She dreamed of flying since she was a child. Now she flies in war.

Kateryna “Meow” Troian — an FPV drone pilot in Ukraine’s Air Assault Forces. She completed more than 1,000 combat drone missions against russian positions. One of the best operators in her brigade. She was killed near Pokrovsk in 2025.

Oksana Rubaniak — a teacher who joined the Ukrainian army in 2022. She became the only woman in a machine-gun platoon of the 72nd Mechanized Brigade. Some fight with words. She chose a machine gun.

Iryna “Cheka” Tsybukh — a combat medic and journalist. She volunteered after russia’s invasion and saved countless wounded soldiers. In 2024, she was killed on the front line. She was only 25.

Kateryna “Birdie” Polishchuk — a paramedic who defended Azovstal in Mariupol. She treated the wounded during the siege. russia captured her after the fall of the city. Months later, she was released in a prisoner exchange.

Crimean-born volunteer Haide Rizaieva, who survived captivity in occupied Luhansk and has received the international Woman 2024 award in the “Defense, Military & Security” category. She dedicates it to her parents, guardian angel, and Ukraine’s Military Intelligence.

While much of the world celebrates Women’s Day with flowers… Thousands of Ukrainian women are holding rifles, flying drones, and saving lives on the front lines. What they do—and what they’ve endured—can only be done by the strongest of spirit. Don’t stop supporting Ukraine.