“The army must say goodbye to male centricity and learn to involve women.” Drone operator Lesya Ganzha about war and service

Before the full-scale war, Lesya Ganzha worked as an editor of the websites “Access to the truth” about access to public information and “Women – 50% of success” about women’s leadership. She led media projects and prepared reports from the frontline territories, was engaged in sailing. But she has been fighting for almost two years – first she was in Irpen as part of the 130th battalion of the TRO, then in Kharkiv region and Donetsk region.

Now Lesya is serving in the 518th battalion, and currently her military specialty is a camera operator FPV– drones

“Ukrainian Pravda.Zhyttia” spoke with Lesya about the importance of teamwork in war, about how to be a woman in the Ukrainian army and why the Ukrainian army has more women.

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“Alone in the field is not a warrior”

“We are now in Kharkiv region in a village, we were taken to a rotation. So while we are recovering, we live with people, help in the garden. The people in the village are good, pro-Ukrainian, survived the occupation. The Ukrainian language is so good here, and it is clear that they have always spoken Ukrainian here. The landlady says: “Go pick up a zucchini, there’s an ogudya.” She didn’t learn that “ogudya” at school.

They don’t take money from us for milk – Natalya, who owns a cow, she says, I can’t take your money, it is given to you at a heavy price. In Yulia, the washing machine works non-stop – all the military men wash in it, it not only does not refuse, but also invites. There are people here who volunteer, girls who weave nets. This is a good Ukrainian village that suffered a lot during the occupation.” – says Lesya Ganja.

Before the full-scale war, Lesya Ganzha worked as an editor

Now Lesya works with her partner Danilo in Aerogroup. They fly not only on reconnaissance “birds”, but also on FPV – these are mostly kamikaze drones equipped with an explosive “gift”.

Lesya has been flying since April this year, and before that she was an infantry rifleman. Compared to the first months in the ranks of the Ukrainian army, Lesya says that she feels like a different person.

“I am no longer the person I was when I arrived a year and a half ago, who did not know what to do and listened to everyone one after the other, and they, in turn, did not know what to do either. Now confidence has appeared. And it is such a very precise confidence: I I can only do what I can. It feels like on the Maidan, as if you are a drop in the ocean. But a very important drop. You have a job – and you do it.” – says Lesya Ganja.

The word “work” in the lexicon of the military means “combat sorties”. No one says: “tomorrow I will go to battle”, they say “I will go to work”.

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The “working shift” of a mobile strike air group continues in different ways – depending on how quickly it was possible to reach the point and deploy the equipment. Since FPVs only fly within line of sight, the flight distance is extremely limited, so FPV shooters try to get as close as possible to the target. This is the main difficulty and risk. Plus, all electronic equipment lights up on PEP devices – as soon as you turn on the antenna, the arrivals begin.

That’s why it’s important to take off quickly, and turn off quickly after work, too: the enemy PEP “sees” the equipment turned on, and until you turn off the antenna, it will come at you.

Lesya says that during the military outings, she realized well how important teamwork is – she had never felt it so acutely before.

“Once upon a time, my friends with combat experience said that in the army the saying “Alone in the field is not a warrior” clearly works. If you remain on the battlefield alone – consider yourself not left. This is how I was taught: work only with a partner: one shoots, the other – recharges. You can’t get much done alone in a shock-mobile air group either.” – she says.

Lesya Ganja says that at first she and her partner quarreled and sometimes quarreled, but now the work has been adjusted perfectly.

“Danya calms me down a lot, and when you are calm, you fly well. In addition, he is a super talented pilot. For example, he mastered flights that I had been learning for several months in a few days. I feel his care and concern, and it is comfortable, because it is based on respect and the desire for the team’s result to be better. We have a common goal: to burn more enemy equipment. When we quarrel, we remember the dances – and everything falls into place.” – says Lesya.

Now Lesya serves in the 518th battalion, and currently her military specialty is an FPV drone operator

Sexism, loss of freedom and comfortable army pants

There is just as much sexism in the army as there is in society, but Lesya has learned to treat it differently during her time here.

Sexism in war is often disguised as care, and care and care is what allows a person in extremely difficult circumstances to feel strong, humane, important. That’s why it’s not good to break down men harshly, and explaining to everyone that you’re not a child who needs to be taken care of quickly gets boring, says Lesya.

“I decided that it is too much trouble to protest against sexism every time. I sometimes make remarks, but in general I see that life puts everything in its place. I have my combat tasks. After all, I did not join the army to to fight sexism, but in order to fight Muscovites. Therefore, sexism will wait a bit. And I have high hopes for evolution: many manifestations should simply disappear through evolution.”– the military man explains his position.

According to Lesi, another major inconvenience of army everyday life is the loss of the ability to manage one’s time. And that’s what’s depressing.

“Your time doesn’t belong to you, even on rotation. You can’t go to the “Nova Poshta”, which is in a nearby settlement. You can’t go to the hairdresser when you need it, but only when they let you go. And to the dentist, too .

It is necessary to wait for permission for days – until everyone signs. And if permission is given, it will be something like “you have two hours tomorrow for a visit to the doctor.” But you have to make an appointment with him in advance, come there, because the dentist does not sit around waiting for Lesya to come to him. There are a lot of silly restrictions here”– sighs the interlocutor.

Or form. If you want a comfortable, good uniform, buy it yourself. This applies to everyone, but women first of all. Because not so long ago, the female form did not exist.

“I used to have men’s pants, but the features of the female and male physique are different. For a woman, pants can fit well on the buttocks, but at the same time sit poorly on the hips, because women’s thighs are usually fuller than men’s. You must understand that a comfortable shape is it’s not about beauty, it’s about fighting ability. A soldier whose pants are falling off or whose shoes are muddy is already half a soldier.”– says Lesya Ganja.

She says that it is not for nothing that many soldiers try to buy the British cartoon uniform – not because of the color or fashion, but because of many important details. First of all, high-quality fabric, comfortable pockets, securely sewn buttons. And the small pocket for the tourniquet in the lower part of the trouser leg is large enough to fit the tourniquet in its entirety, not half, as in the trousers that are issued.

“When you go to work, there’s not enough stuff in your combat pack. There’s no room for spare pants. You’ll have one pair of pants for the entire time you’re in the trenches. And they’ve got to be the ones you’ll sleep in, too.” and work – both in the rain and in the sun”– explains Ganja.

According to Lesi, the biggest inconvenience of everyday life in the army is the loss of the ability to manage one’s time

Is a woman needed in the army?

The question of involving women in the army is a question of mobilization resources, because not all men are soldiers, not all women are defenders, the military woman is convinced.

“The army must learn to attract women. We do not have such a large resource of people who want and can fight. And women in the country are 50% of the total population. Some of them want and can. Therefore, the army must say goodbye to male-centricity and learn to attract women using their strengths, not pointing out their weaknesses. Almost every unit I know of is experiencing a manpower shortage. When we talk about whether women will join the army, we’re actually talking about Ukraine winning this war.”– says Lesya Ganja.

Notes that women can find themselves in those army specialties that do not require great physical strength.

“For example, in the infantry, a man is more effective because he is physically stronger. And in those areas that do not require such physical training, women will serve no worse. These are both non-combat areas and combat. From combat, for example, women it is even possible to master engineering – demining and demining, communication, medicine, aerial reconnaissance. This is already a lot. We have no right to neglect such a powerful human resource.” – says the aerial scout.

Lesya dreams of water even after the victory. After all, she is a yacht captain

Swimming and… swimming again

Lesya Ganzha calls sports, particularly swimming, the best way to relieve stress. He says that there is a pond in the village and swimming there is always useful.

Lesya dreams of water even after the victory. After all, she is a yacht captain.

“I’m going to Antarctica, a sailor on a sailing yacht. Andrii Andreev, the “Paganel” company, invited me to become a member of the crew of the Mon Coeur ship again. This is the sailboat on which I crossed the Atlantic in 2019. Andriy now very much supports the army in general and me in the army in particular. So when everything is flying and exploding around me, I dream that Antarctica and Tierra del Fuego are waiting for me. After the victory – she smiles dreamily.

Svitlana Chernetska, especially for UP. Life