Nadiya Savchenko’s fight against Russia’s justice system captures headlines, but it is her persistence in the face of discrimination in Ukraine to which many women relate.
The 34-year-old is Ukraine’s only female military pilot and a veteran of Ukraine’s mission to Iraq, with a military career spanning 13 years. When her 2014 request to deploy to the war zone was rejected, she joined a volunteer battalion.
She trained recruits and fought alongside men, yet was officially offered a non-combatant position of “morale officer,” as related to activist Maria Berlinska by Savchenko’s sister, Vera. Before Nadiya Savchenko could decline or accept, she was …read more
Source: Voice of America
