Name: Ukraines women step in to fill critical roles during war
Uploaded: 2025-11-12T10:29:49.747Z
Duration: 2 min 33 s
Description: The war in Ukraine has left key jobs vacant, as hundreds of thousands of men have become soldiers. Women are stepping up to take roles once dominated by men — including in emergency services like firefighting.

The war in Ukraine has left key jobs vacant, as hundreds of thousands of men have become soldiers. Women are stepping up to take roles once dominated by men — including in emergency services like firefighting.

Kyiv

In Ukraine's western Rivne region, women have formed the country's first female volunteer fire brigade, working alongside state emergency services for over a year. The team, which started with eight members and has grown to 21, includes village council employees, teachers, and saleswomen, all of whom have participated in firefighting efforts.

Despite initial objections and stereotypes about firefighting being a male profession, the brigade has become an essential part of local fire safety. Plans are underway to expand the group and provide additional training, with more women expressing interest in joining as the conflict continues.

Ukraine's women step in to fill critical roles during war

Fighting fires in their community. This group are among the first volunteers to get out and battle a blaze. They're members of Ukraine's first female volunteer fire brigade. We are not afraid of fire. Let it be afraid of us. For over a year now, the volunteers have been working alongside the state emergency services in Ukraine's western Rivne region. The volunteers regularly undergo training with professional firefighters. The creation of these teams is a very important and integral part of ensuring fire safety in the community. They are the first to be at the scene. If the event is very large, they can localize the fire on their own and wait for the main fire and rescue units. When the main units arrive, they perform other functions, as directed by the firefighting manager. Initially, there were only eight women in the team, but now there are 21 volunteers. Most of them are village council employees, deputies and members of the executive committee, as well as teachers, accountants and saleswomen. And almost every one of them has already been out to fight a fire at least once. I never thought I'd wear this uniform. I didn't plan this. Well, maybe when I was a child I did. The idea of creating a female volunteer fire brigade was down to the head of a village council. However, there were some objections. There are stereotypes that this is a purely male profession and that we'll not be able to cope with it. And it's dangerous. Yes, it is dangerous, but given that we are currently living in a state of war, and we do not know what the consequences of that will be, what may happen, what destruction may occur, we should at least be a support to those who need us. There are plans to continue developing the women's volunteer fire brigade with new training and exercises in the pipeline. There's plenty of interest too, with several more women in the small community hoping to sign up. For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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