Before the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Julia Kononchuk was studying at the Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University. She won a scholarship to study in Great Britain and was supposed to begin university there in the fall of 2022, but her visa was not granted in time.

Diana Andrunyk is a social photographer and photojournalist who has been working in artistic and advertising photography for 11 years. She has been working with Veteranka, the Women Veteran Movement, since 2021 on several projects together with military personnel. One of them is "A woman warrior is first and foremost a woman.” Five months after the full-scale Russian invasion, Andrunyk was forced to leave Ukraine and move to the United Kingdom (UK) for the safety of her family.

Veronika Lytvynenko is a volunteer and graphic designer for the Ukrainian Women Veteran Movement. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine found her in Kyiv, and her entire family in Mariupol.

Gandzia Morozova is a casting manager and film director from Kyiv. Following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Morozova became the head of the Ukrainian Women Veteran Movement, known as VETERANKA, which delivers humanitarian aid to de-occupied territories and war hot spots. Since 24 February 2022, the organization has strengthened its focus on humanitarian assistance and started a series of psychological support sessions with support from UN Women, under the project “Transformative approaches to achieve gender equality in Ukraine,”supported by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for the European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine and funded by the Government of Sweden.

Ukrainian women-led civil society organizations were among the first to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. In partnership with UN Women, they continue to play a leading role, which is key for the post-war recovery.

Rural women face multiple forms of discrimination and are extremely vulnerable amid Russia’s military invasion. Sofia Burtak founded the Rural Women Business Network NGO in 2016, which now unites over 300 rural women, including farmers, self-government officials and others. It is actively engaged in supporting the rights of rural women and advocating for a gender-sensitive agricultural sector that takes the interests of women farmers and women’s agricultural businesses more into account. Burtak explains that since Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014, rural women have been bearing an immense burden in caring for families, ensuring food supply for the army and hosting millions of internally displaced Ukrainians.

19-year-old researcher Marharyta Meleshkova from Ukraine invented a tool to clean soil polluted by oil. She encourages more girls to work in science and overcome gender stereotypes.

The public association the Rural Women's Business Network recently signed a Partner Agreement with the UN Women Project, Advancing Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment through Decentralization Reform of Ukraine. This initiative is funded by the Government of Canada. Under the new Partner Agreement , the Association will facilitate mobilization of women from 13 communities to participate in local governance across four regions: Volyn, Chernivtsi, Kherson and Sumy.

The enhanced participation of women in public life can bring transformative changes to their communities. Women want to be actively engaged in local decision-making processes and they have proved that they can drive positive results when in top political positions, believes Sofia Maksymenko. She is the self-help group leader and newly elected head of Zvanivka, a community in the conflict-affected Donetsk oblast located near the contact line.