Thirteen female soldiers from the Ukrainian Air Force have been killed so far in the fight against Russian troops, according to official figures from Kyiv.
Nearly 7,000 female members of the air force experienced International Women's Day "not with flowers, but with weapons in hand," Lt. Gen. Mykola Oleshchuk, said Tuesday.
"Shoulder to shoulder with men, they are repelling Russian aggression, fighting for the future of their children and the future of our Ukraine," he said, as the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.
More than 1,500 female air force service personnel had taken part directly in combat operations, Oleshchuk said, adding that 16 of them had been awarded medals. There are no official Ukrainian figures on the total number of losses among the armed forces.
According to the political scientist, Leandra Bias of the Swiss peace foundation Swisspeace, the proportion of women in the Ukrainian army is just over 15%. The proportion of women in the Russian army has fallen in recent years to around 4%.
The number of refugees reached 2 million on Tuesday, according to the United Nations, the fastest exodus Europe has seen since World War II. One million of them are children, UNICEF spokesman James Elder tweeted, calling it "a dark historical first."
Polina Shulga tried to ease the journey for her 3-year-old daughter by hiding the truth.
"Of course it's hard to travel with a child, but I explained to her that we're going on vacation and that we'll definitely come home one day when the war is over," Shulga said. She didn't know what would come next after arriving in Hungary from Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, but believed the experience would make her stronger. "I feel like I'm responsible for my child, so it was easier for me to take this step and leave," she said, as her little girl tugged at the hem of her coat.
Nataliya Grigoriyovna Levchinka, from Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, felt much the same.
"I'm generally in some kind of a terrible dream which keeps going on," the retired teacher told Agence France-Presse (AFP). "I would be in some kind of abstraction if it wasn't for my daughter. I wouldn't be able to come to my senses."
A decree by Ukraine's government that prohibits men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country means that most of those fleeing are women and children, though the U.N. doesn't have exact numbers on gender. Ukraine's policy is meant to encourage men to sign up to fight against Russia's invasion or to keep them available for military conscription. That has led to heartbreaking scenes of separation, along with growing worry as some encircled, battered parts of Ukraine slip out of reach.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke of International Women's Day in a video address: "Ukrainians, we usually celebrate this holiday, the holiday of spring. We congratulate our women, our daughters, wives, mothers. Usually. But not today. Today I cannot say the traditional words. I just can't congratulate you. I can't, when there are so many deaths. When there is so much grief, when there is so much suffering. When the war continues."
Women normally receive flowers and chocolates and kisses and speeches. But this time, sugary messages were tinged with sorrow or pleas for peace.
