We use cookies on this website. By continuing to use this site without changing your cookie settings, you agree that you are happy to accept our privacy policy and for us to access our cookies on your device.
((INTRO))
[[Tens of thousands of Ukrainian women are serving alongside men in the military, both in combat and noncombat roles against Russian aggression. Meanwhile, other women are facing mental and physical pressures as they work behind the front lines to care for families and rebuild their lives. Anna Chernikova in Kyiv has the story of one woman’s transformation.]
Content TypePackage
LanguageEnglish
Transcript/ScriptUKRAINE WOMEN AT WAR
HEADLINE: War in Ukraine Changes Women’s Lives Forever
TEASER: While many women serve alongside men in the military, those staying behind the front lines must deal with the mental and physical pressure of caring for families alone and rebuilding their lives
PUBLISHED AT: 07/19/2023 at 7:40 pm
BYLINE: Anna Chernikova
DATELINE: Kyiv
VIDEOGRAPHER: Eugene Shynkar
PRODUCER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: LR, MAS
VIDEO SOURCES: VOA ORIGINAL
PLATFORMS: WEB __ TV X RADIO __
TRT: 2:33
VID APPROVED BY: mia
TYPE: TVPKG
NOTES: ))
((INTRO))
[[Tens of thousands of Ukrainian women are serving alongside men in the military, both in combat and noncombat roles against Russian aggression. Meanwhile, other women are facing mental and physical pressures as they work behind the front lines to care for families and rebuild their lives. Anna Chernikova in Kyiv has the story of one woman’s transformation.]]
((NARRATOR))
Svitlana Kosolapova is now alone after her husband, a Ukrainian soldier, died in battle. Before Russia’s full-scale invasion, she says she had a happy life, filled with plans, including a family vacation.
((Svitlana Kosolapova, Widow of a Ukrainian Soldier – FEMALE IN UKRAINIAN – VOA))
“We were happily married for 15 years. Everything was taken away from me in one day. I had a future. We had tickets to the Carpathian Mountains for April.”
[[RADIO VERSION: Kosolapova says she and her husband were happily married for 15 years until everything was taken away from her in one day. She said she and her husband had a future, and plans. They had tickets to go the Carpathian Mountains in April.]]
((NARRATOR))
Then came February of 2022, when Russian forces occupied her town in the Luhansk region. Kosolapova says that’s when life for her and her two children became an unending nightmare.
((Svitlana Kosolapova, Widow of a Ukrainian Soldier – FEMALE IN UKRAINIAN – VOA))
“Even after the death of my husband, the Russians were still coming, took me for interrogations, took me away, locked up the children. They took away food.”
[[RADIO VERSION: Kosolapova says that even after the death of her husband, Russian soldiers kept coming. They would take her for interrogations and lock up the children. She said they would also steal the family’s food.]]
((NARRATOR))
The mental torture left Kosolapova with no choice but to flee. Alone with two children and no place to go, she says all she could think of was survival.
((NARRATOR))
As tens of thousands of Ukrainian women serve alongside men in both combat and noncombat roles against Russia, women like Kosolapova who stayed behind are fighting their own emotional and physical battles.
((NARRATOR))
She received help from The Masha Fund, an organization that helps women and children whose lives have been ravaged by the war and abuse.
((NARRATOR))
Co-founder Mariia Iefrosinina says the challenges women now face are completely new. When the women come in, she says they are often in despair.
((Mariia Iefrosinina, The Masha Fund – FEMALE IN UKRAINIAN – VOA))
“They don't have a thirst for life, they don't understand why to live. //cut shots//
This is exactly what the enemy has done to us. He did not only physically kill the women, but he killed them psychologically.”
((NARRATOR))
Kosolapova went through mental rehab. Gradually, after regaining her own strength, she was able to start helping others. Now she works in the group’s psychology unit, helping children with autism spectrum disorders.
((Svitlana Kosolapova, Widow of a Ukrainian soldier – FEMALE IN UKRAINIAN – VOA))
“I'm now at the point when I can help, not just accept help. I can give it away as well.”
[[RADIO VERSION: Kosolapova says she is now at the point where she can offer help, not just accept help.]]
((NARRATOR))
Like many of Ukraine’s women, Kosolapova has had to accept that her past life is gone. She is working to get through the present and hoping to build a future that, although different from what she had before, will be better.
((ANNA CHERNIKOVA, FOR VOA NEWS, KYIV))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)
Kyiv
Embargo DateJuly 19, 2023 20:29 EDT
Byline
ANNA CHERNIKOVA, VOA News
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
