For this International Women’s Day Special, KPFA looks at Russia’s war in Ukraine and the impacts of war on women, particularly women who serve in the armed forces and front lines in war zones.
More than 2.5 million people have fled Ukraine-nearly half of them children. While men cannot leave, women can, but some are choosing to stay behind to support the resistance to Vladimir Putins’ war, to provide humanitarian relief and defend their homeland and the ideals of democracy. One of those women is Oleksandra Matviichuck @avalaina. She’s head of the Center for Civil Liberties in Ukraine. The human rights defender is documenting Russia’s war crimes on her people. She spoke from a bomb shelter in Kyiv, to KPFA’s Christina Aanestad.
The organization she recommends supporting during Russia’s siege on Ukraine is SaveLife. They have a new website that is in English at Come Back Alive.
Images from Ukraine’s Defense Ministry.