This echoes some voices from the US, whose longer-the-better policy the war in Ukraine is.
Kellogg Backs Mobilization of Ukrainian Women
and also some recent calls from the Ukraine military establishment:
UKRAINE DEPOPULATION: Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Calls For Mandatory Military Service For Women — Says It Would Immediately Double Mobilization Resource
This was a call for conscription.
But the Telegraph piece is unashamedly gushing.
Author is Zoe Strimpel, a writer known for fierce, possibly quirky feminist (self proclaimed) views.
But this is something else.
“You have to love the sight of Terekh, a stunning brunette with high cheekbones, luscious glossy lips and chic, understated garb, speaking to reporters against a backdrop depicting the launch of the pink Flamingo cruise missile she developed with Fire Point.”
FFS it’s all part of the feminist transformation of Ukraine, you see.
Now why didn’t Putin think of that?
ED
Ukraine’s fight against Putin shows what women are really capable of
READ MORE at telegraph.co.uk/ opinion
23 Aug 2026
Through acts of bravery, dedication and graft, women soldiers are changing societal perceptions
One of the more intriguing (and heartening) consequences of Ukraine’s four-year struggle against Vladimir Putin’s despotism has been the perception of what women are capable of.
I argued in my recent book Good Slut: How Money, Sex and Power Set Women Free that the pervasive idea that we aren’t brave, focused and tough enough for front-line military work is nonsense.
Critics have, predictably, lambasted me for my “Pollyanna-ish” belief in female strength and progress, but the rapid evolution of women’s status in the war effort of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces is proving me right.
Ukraine, still a macho society, is nonetheless becoming the most extraordinary example of women bucking all the stereotypes about being too cuddly and weak for war. Not that it matters, but these aren’t big, butch broads; many are beautiful, slender women who could easily coast on their looks without bothering to do combat training and learn to operate drones.
Of around 75,000 women who serve in the Ukrainian armed forces, more than 55,000 are active servicewomen (around eight per cent of the overall force), a figure that has more than doubled since February 2022 .
In the British Army, women make up 11.7 per cent of active members, but, given we are not in a civilisational war, it’s much less risky. The UK too is a much less sexist society than Ukraine.
Combat roles is where the rubber hits the road: there is nothing more dangerous than being a front-line Ukrainian soldier, so it is impressive that there are around 5,500 female fighters. In the UK, by contrast, fewer than 300 women are in close-combat roles.
Relative numbers are still low, but the increase is startling: the proportion of female officers in Ukraine grew from four to 21 per cent between 2023 and early 2026, according to Ukraine’s military. Women now command platoons, companies and military units.
It’s not just in combat and command roles that women are showing their mettle: they’re at the levers of commerce and power too. I can’t think of a Western female equivalent to 34-year-old Iryna Terekh, who is the chief executive and chief technologist of Fire Point, a start-up Ukrainian weapons firm making missiles and drones for use against Russia.
“We are fighting for our survival and we need to survive just one day longer than [the] Russian Empire,” Terekh has said. “Russia only wants to finish this war when Ukraine does not exist at all.”
You have to love the sight of Terekh, a stunning brunette with high cheekbones, luscious glossy lips and chic, understated garb, speaking to reporters against a backdrop depicting the launch of the pink Flamingo cruise missile she developed with Fire Point.
What’s all the more impressive is how determined Ukraine’s warrior women have had to be to get here, given the entrenched sexism they face. Despite women’s crucial contribution, Ukrainian command positions still remain almost exclusively male.
I was deeply struck by a recent set of interviews with Ukrainian women who enlisted after Russia’s invasion. Alya, 35, a former dancer, became a surgeon in the army. The bravery she exhibited treating young men blown to bits by shrapnel was in stark contrast to the attitudes of male soldiers she encountered when she first signed up.
She told The Times: “[The men] say: ‘Oh, she’s a beautiful doll – she can’t be smart enough.’ Or else it might be: ‘Oh, she’s come to search for a husband here.’ To which my response was: ‘Listen, I was a ballet dancer, I was spoilt for choice. I didn’t have to join the army to find a husband.’”
The feminist transformation of Ukraine has some way to go. But through real acts of bravery, commitment and hard graft, women are proving their mettle and winning the kind of trust they ought not to have to win, but which is nonetheless necessary.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/08/23/the-fight-against-putin-shows-what-women-are-really-capable/