Now Kozak infantry mobility vehicles are on the frontlines, and took part in the Ukrainian offensive in Russia’s Kursk region.
In the workshop below her office, dozens of men wearing protective gear pour molten metal to be forged into armor plates, while the sound of welding fills the air.
Vysotska, who is also head of the Ukrainian Defense Enterprises League, an industry lobby, said there is no time for male chauvinism while Ukraine is fighting for its life.
“I have never faced any form of sexism in this industry. We have a woman leading the top defense procurement agency, and a woman, the deputy strategic industries minister … women take so many different jobs. And I think it is discriminatory even to think we should have any special treatment,” Vysotska said.
The need for additional workers is dire. Since the start of Russia’s February 2022 invasion Ukraine has lost over 30 percent of its labor force, or 5.5 million people, to mobilization, migration and the occupation of Ukrainian territories by Russia, Ukraine’s Confederation of Employers has reported.
“Women should play a leading role in the country’s economy. Because our men protect [Ukraine] and they do everything so that the war does not reach us, we must help them at the front and go to courses and master other professions too,” Yavorska said.
