Screening: Documentary ‘Invisible Battalion’ + Q&A

A film screening followed by Q&A with film producer & protagonists hosted by British-Ukrainian Aid

Invisible Battalion is the first full-length Ukrainian documentary about women at war produced and filmed by women.

Three film directors – Iryna Tsilyk, Svitlana Lischynska and Alina Horlova – give a voice to ten thousand women in the combatant units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine by following the journey of several women fighting in the on-going war in eastern Ukraine currently occupied by the Russian regular army.

In early 2016 year, the Invisible Battalion project started as the sociological research aiming to raise awareness about the women’s role in Ukraine’s army and volunteer battalions. As a result, various issues were brought up for public discussions, and close cooperation with the Ministry of Defence started where the Invisible Battalion team played a facilitating role.

Due to restricted legislation inherited from the Soviet times, women were not allowed to take many combat positions in the army. This has led to the social inequity and legal injustice when women serving as snipers, mortar gunners or scouts officially hold positions as cooks, medical instructors, seamstresses, etc. Consequently, women were not only underpaid or not paid, they not only had no access to social care but also their role in the war was invisible and hugely undermined.

The advocacy campaign started by the Invisible Battalion team was successful, and for the first time in the history of independent Ukraine, 63 military positions became available for women. This is only the beginning of the process as women are still not allowed to serve in the air landing troops, and there are many restrictions in pursuing a military career.

Language: Ukrainian & Russian

Subtitles: English