Women at war: How Ukraine’s arms industry is replacing missing men

KYIV — Halyna Yavorska is a lawyer, but she’s got a second job that’s at least as important — assembling the drones that are a mainstay of Ukraine’s army as it fights off Russian invaders.

“When my husband went to war, I understood I also wanted to be useful. He is a drone pilot. So, about a year ago, I decided to join the small production of drones,” Yavorska said. “We started from 70 drones a month and now we can produce a couple of thousand in a week. Our team also grew from six people to 40 — 10 of whom are women.”

Yavorska isn’t alone.

Unlike Ukrainian men of fighting age, women have the right to flee the war-torn country, and millions have already done so. But many others have chosen to stay, some volunteering for the military while others step in to fill gaps in the economy caused by the absence of so many men.

While women have replaced men in jobs from construction to driving trucks, they are also a large and growing presence at defense companies, where they make up 38 percent of the workforce at state defense concern Ukroboronprom. Even more work in the private defense sector.

“There are not enough people everywhere now. I believe that women should step up. The war is going hard on us, but it is also a chance for us to acquire a new profession, to revise our skills,” Yavorska said.

That’s what Yuliia Vysotska has been doing as well.

She’s a top sales executive at Praktika, a company that before the war specialized in safes and other equipment for the banking industry, as well as bulletproof glass. In 2009 the company made its first Kozak armored vehicle.

“Back then nobody was interested in it. But we continued working on them. So with the start of the war, we knew how to do it and were able to reorient our production quickly,” Vysotska said.

Now Kozak infantry mobility vehicles are on the frontlines, and took part in the Ukrainian offensive in Russia’s Kursk region.

In the workshop below her office, dozens of men wearing protective gear pour molten metal to be forged into armor plates, while the sound of welding fills the air.

Vysotska, who is also head of the Ukrainian Defense Enterprises League, an industry lobby, said there is no time for male chauvinism while Ukraine is fighting for its life.

“I have never faced any form of sexism in this industry.  We have a woman leading the top defense procurement agency, and a woman, the deputy strategic industries minister … women take so many different jobs. And I think it is discriminatory even to think we should have any special treatment,” Vysotska said.  

The need for additional workers is dire. Since the start of Russia’s February 2022 invasion Ukraine has lost over 30 percent of its labor force, or 5.5 million people, to mobilization, migration and the occupation of Ukrainian territories by Russia, Ukraine’s Confederation of Employers has reported.

“Women should play a leading role in the country’s economy. Because our men protect [Ukraine] and they do everything so that the war does not reach us, we must help them at the front and go to courses and master other professions too,” Yavorska said.

Useful distraction

Yavorska also has not faced discrimination at her new night job.

While never having shown a knack for tinkering, she is now soldering parts for drones. “What I like is that at our enterprise, women are not getting easier tasks. We all work on a production line together,” she said.

Despite the heavy workload, she said she still finds time to make an additional drone or two to send to her husband.

The work also helps her feel that she’s contributing to the war effort.

“It helps me. It’s interesting, I’ve learned to solder. It’s hard to assemble drones after work but it helps me to feel useful and helps me not think about how my husband is doing at [the] war front every second of my time. And I think other wives of soldiers should also do this to distract themselves,” Yavorska said.

A factory refuge

Valentyna, 40, is also deeply involved in the defense industry. She’s the chair of the board of a defense monopolist, which is why the 40-year-old asked that her name be changed for security reasons, fearing she could otherwise be identified by the Russians.

 When Russia first invaded in 2022, Valentyna had been back at her job at an arms company for only a few months after taking maternity leave.

She stayed at the factory, which also sheltered about 4,000 civilians in the company’s bomb shelter.

“I remember the sense of primal fear as I watched the horizon turning yellow at night. We were getting ready to stop the Russian military in Kyiv,” Valentyna said.

Production continued even when the area came under siege and finding food became a problem. People had to share, sometimes eating only an egg per day. Several of the top specialists, including Valentyna’s deputy, volunteered for the war; women and retirees took their places.

“My current staff is mostly very senior. Yes, it’s hard for them to work, but their experience is priceless even though some are 80 years and older,” Valentyna said.

In May 2022, as the Russians retreated from Kyiv, the civilians sheltering at the factory left. But Valentyna still frequently sleeps on a сot in her office due to her intense workload.

“My child has special needs. I now only see him on weekends. Thanks to my mom, I am able to work long hours. Sometimes, when everyone is out, I make dumplings and put them in a freezer,” Valentyna said. “Therefore we will never be hungry if we are stuck under siege again.”

More than anything else, Valentyna is afraid the Russians might return. Until the country is safe, she has put her life plans — which include “the purchase of a new carpet” — on pause.

“I don’t want to experience the feeling of fear and the [not knowing] what is happening behind the fence. But we have to be ready for anything,” Valentyna said.

And that gives her job special significance.

“They must learn to make high-quality weapons, store them well, and respect them. Weapons ensure the preservation of your life and at least one more generation, [they] guarantee a non-attack. It turned out that the most important thing in this life is a weapon,” she said.