Invisible Battalion

Invisible Battalion is a Ukrainian gender-equality and civil-rights initiative centered on women serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and participating in the War in Donbas. It began in 2015 as a sociological research project coordinated by Maria Berlinska and prepared by sociologists Tamara Martsenyuk, Anna Kvit, and Ganna Grytsenko of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. The project examined the experiences of women involved in Ukraine’s armed conflict in the east and documented a gap between their practical military responsibilities and their formal legal status. At the time of the research, Ukrainian regulations restricted women’s access to many combat positions. Women who performed duties such as sniper, grenade-launcher operator, reconnaissance, artillery, or other combat work could formally be registered in support occupations including cook, seamstress, cleaner, or accountant. This arrangement enabled women to participate in military operations while denying many of them official recognition as combat personnel. The consequences included limited access to military awards, social benefits, career progression, institutional status, and other protections associated with service in recognized military roles. With support from the Ukrainian Women's Fund and UN Women, the research developed into a public photography and advocacy project. Approximately fifty portraits of Ukrainian women combatants were created and exhibited at prominent government locations, including the Ukrainian Parliament and the Ministry of Defense. The project used personal testimony, documentary photography, and public visibility to challenge assumptions that military service and combat were exclusively male domains. Invisible Battalion also became the title and subject of a feature-length documentary. The film presents six stories of women who served, or were serving, in the war in eastern Ukraine. It was made by three women directors— Iryna Tsilyk, Alina Gorlova, and Svitlana Lischynska—whose different perspectives emphasized the personal, social, and political dimensions of women’s wartime participation. The initiative combined research, cultural production, and policy advocacy rather than operating as a conventional commercial brand. Its campaign contributed to public and institutional pressure for changes in military employment rules. Following advocacy by civil-society and international organizations, the Ministry of Defense expanded the number of military occupations available to women to 63 through Directive No. 292, concerning military positions for soldiers, sergeants, and officers. The project is therefore associated with a broader shift in the formal recognition of women’s military service in Ukraine.

Invisible Battalion emerged in Ukraine in 2015 amid the War in Donbas. The initiative was coordinated by Maria Berlinska and developed through sociological work by Tamara Martsenyuk, Anna Kvit, and Ganna Grytsenko, sociologists associated with the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Its initial purpose was to investigate the participation of women in the conflict and the discrepancy between their actual responsibilities and the positions recorded in official military documents. The research found that women could be performing combat duties while being formally assigned to occupations such as cooking, sewing, cleaning, or accounting. Restrictions on women's eligibility for combat posts created a semi-legal structure in which their contribution to military operations was not fully recognized. The resulting disadvantages extended beyond job titles: women could lose access to benefits, awards, social recognition, advancement, and other rights connected to formal military status. The project then moved from research into public advocacy. Supported by the Ukrainian Women's Fund and UN Women, Invisible Battalion produced a photographic portrait series featuring roughly fifty Ukrainian women combatants. Exhibitions at the Ukrainian Parliament and the Ministry of Defense presented the subjects as visible participants in the country's defense and brought the issue into national policy institutions. A calendar based on the project won the Grand Prix at the National Festival of Social Advertising in 2016. The initiative later expanded into film. The feature documentary Invisible Battalion follows six women who were or remained combatants in the war in eastern Ukraine. It was directed by Iryna Tsilyk, Alina Gorlova, and Svitlana Lischynska, and used women's perspectives to explore military service, war, identity, and institutional recognition. The campaign's broader policy impact was reflected in a Ministry of Defense decision to expand the list of military occupations available to women to 63 through Directive No. 292. Invisible Battalion is consequently best understood as a hybrid advocacy platform: it operates through research, visual documentation, film, public communication, and pressure for legal and administrative reform rather than through commercial products.

• 2016

  Advocacy calendar receives national award

  [1]Invisible Battalionen.wikipedia.org

  The Invisible Battalion calendar won the Grand Prix at the National Festival of Social Advertising.

• 2015

  Sociological survey launched

  [1]Invisible Battalionen.wikipedia.org

  Invisible Battalion began as a study of women's participation in the War in Donbas and the barriers created by military employment rules.

• Portrait exhibition presented at Ukrainian state institutions

  [1]Invisible Battalionen.wikipedia.org

  Approximately fifty portraits of Ukrainian women combatants were exhibited at the Ukrainian Parliament and Ministry of Defense.

• Ministry of Defense expands eligible military occupations

  [1]Invisible Battalionen.wikipedia.org

  Directive No. 292 expanded the number of military jobs formally available to women to 63.

A Ukrainian civil-society and gender-equality initiative that combines social research, documentary storytelling, public exhibitions, and policy advocacy to improve recognition and equal treatment of women in military service.

• Research project · 2015

  Invisible Battalion sociological survey

  The founding research project examined women's military participation during the War in Donbas, focusing on the gap between combat duties performed in practice and positions permitted or recorded under Ukrainian military regulations.

• Documentary photography and advocacy

  Invisible Battalion photographic project

  A portrait-based public-awareness project featuring approximately fifty Ukrainian women combatants. Developed with support from the Ukrainian Women's Fund and UN Women, it brought the women's experiences into public and governmental spaces through exhibitions and related advocacy materials.

• Social advertising publication · 2016

  Invisible Battalion calendar

  An annual calendar derived from the photographic advocacy project. It received the Grand Prix at the National Festival of Social Advertising in 2016 and helped circulate the campaign's message beyond its exhibitions.

• Feature documentary film

  Invisible Battalion documentary

  A feature-length documentary telling the stories of six women who were or are combatants in the war in eastern Ukraine. The film was made by Iryna Tsilyk, Alina Gorlova, and Svitlana Lischynska and presents women's perspectives on military service and war.

• 2015Invisible Battalion research and recognition campaign

  Ukraine · International civil-society networks

  The campaign documented the participation of women in the War in Donbas and challenged the practice of assigning combat participants to non-combat occupations for administrative purposes.

  Outcome. It helped make the issue visible to Ukrainian institutions and international organizations and contributed to pressure for changes in military employment rules.

  Source
• Women combatants portrait exhibition

  Ukraine

  The project displayed approximately fifty portraits of Ukrainian women combatants at the Ukrainian Parliament and Ministry of Defense, linking personal representation with institutional advocacy.

  Outcome. The exhibitions broadened public recognition of women as military participants and supported the campaign's policy goals.

  Source

• Ministry of Defense expands military occupations open to womenOther

  Background

  Women had been performing combat duties while often being formally assigned to support occupations because regulations restricted access to combat positions.

  Action taken

  Through Directive No. 292, the Ministry of Defense expanded the number of military jobs available to women to 63.

  Aftermath

  The change improved the formal basis for recognizing women's military work and was described as resulting from pressure by society and international organizations, including advocacy connected with Invisible Battalion.

  Source

1. 1Invisible Battalionen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Invisible Battalion official websiteinvisiblebattalion.com