More Women Doing Dangerous Humanitarian Work

Women in Ukraine are increasingly taking on dangerous humanitarian roles, such as driving evacuation buses and delivering aid in frontline areas, as the four-year war steadily reduces the number of available male volunteers. Organizations like Dobra Sprava report that military mobilization has created a shortage of men for these physical tasks. A July 2026 CSIS analysis and an April 2026 Human Rights First report document this demographic shift across eastern Ukraine. Volunteers face persistent threats from Russian first-person-view (FPV) drones, which regularly target both military and clearly marked civilian vehicles, according to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission.