Slava Ukraini! : women's resistance under Russia's war

THE DAY THE WAR BROKE OUT, I WOKE UP AT 6 AM, REACHED FOR MY MOBILE AND SAW A TEXT MESSAGE FROM MY BEST FRIEND: ”THEY ARE COMING”... On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine. Since then, the country’s inhabitants have been subjected to war crimes of a type and scale that Europeans had assumed belonged to the past: Massacres of villagers, bombings of residential buildings, mass rapes, terrorist attacks on hospitals. Not even children and pregnant women have been spared from Russia’s geopolitical blood-thirst. Ukraine was only expected to withstand a full-scale Russian invasion for a few days. But the nation has surprised the world with its resistance and resilience. Ukrainian women fight in one of the West’s most gender-equal armies, lead demonstrations in global capitals, counter Russian cyber warfare, write new national anthems, lobby from key political positions, and weave camouflage nets en masse. Award-winning journalist and author Lisa Bjurwald has covered the full-scale inva­sion from the start, focusing on women and girls. In the critically acclaimed reportage book Sla­va Ukraini! Women’s Resistance under Russia’s War (Feb 2025), she paints a vivid portrait of the experiences of Ukrainian women during the brutal war that will mark Europe and the world for years to come.