Soldier Olesia, call sign WASP

My name is Olesia, I am an officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, call sign WASP. My service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine began in 2014. At that time, my husband was already a military men, a career officer, and I volunteered to join the army.

At the beginning of my service, I felt pressure and outright discrimination from men. Women in the army are treated with prejudice. They say that your place is in the kitchen to cook borshch. This is what 70% of men thought. But the remaining 30% supported and respected me. Over time, in the course of my service, the attitude towards me changed. Now 80% of men accept me as a colleague. Although there are still 20% who do not understand why I am here rather than in the kitchen. They don't take a woman in such a job seriously.

But in reality, a woman in the military serves on an equal basis with a man. She performs her duties in the same way, if she is really in her place. And in any situation, we try to remain women: to look beautiful and well-groomed in any circumstances. It cheers men up. My make-up kit is always with me.

However, we, women, get wounded on an equal footing with men. War has no gender privileges. I have been wounded many times. I recovered quickly enough and returned to the ranks. However, the most recent injury is still affecting me. 

Let me share a little bit of background.

We, the military, take care not only of our unit, but also of civilians in conflict zones. For example, we have a family with six children who refused to leave the war zone. One day we found out that they had another baby. We sent out a call to our friends and volunteers and quickly gathered everything we needed: diapers, clothes, baby food and went to the family.

On the way, we came under fire. I was thrown back by a shock wave, and at first it seemed nothing serious. The doctors helped me, brought me back to consciousness, and I even refused to be hospitalised. But over time, I regretted it. I am having constant back pain. It even happened that I could not stand on my feet for two months. Honour and praise to our doctors, who treated me, but noted that a surgical intervention was inevitable, because my intervertebral discs could only be saved by an immediate operation - the thirteenth in my life, the " lucky" one. Only such operation will relieve the fierce pain, which is no longer manageable even with medication blockades. 

This war has taken away my most precious that I had - my child, so I have to undergo surgery as soon as possible and return to the ranks to fight the enemy, to avenge my son.

I don't make plans for the distant future, but even after the war ends with Ukraine's victory, I want to stay in the Armed Forces. There is a lot of work to be done and changes are needed.

The war will end. But the army still needs to be strong and prepared. Now people are performing real heroic deeds. If you don't want to feed someone else's army, take care of your own!

 

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