Yulia Kuzmina’s way of helping her country is by working on the power grid.
Kuzmina, 32, is training to be an electrician in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kamianske.
“It’s a tough job,” she told Business Insider. “You’re responsible for the lives of the people who work there. You have to carefully consider everything and make sure the lines aren’t live before you issue a work order.”
Kuzmina is one of many women joining the essential service as the war with Russia progresses.
Between January and May, the number of employed women rose from about 45,000 to about 48,000, and that figure is likely to grow. The number of women like Kuzmina in vocational training rose 75 percent in the same period to about 17,000, according to a government website.
Due to labor shortages in areas like driving, mechanical work and road construction, the Ukrainian government launched a program to provide training vouchers to women, allowing them to receive free training in the profession of their choice at educational institutions or directly from their employers. But Ukrainian women still have to contend with employers and families who aren’t always in favor of more women taking on traditionally male jobs.
Served in the Army
Kuzmina is used to tough work. She served in the Ukrainian army for two years. After studying accounting and bookkeeping, she joined the army as a clerk in 2020. She then became a grenade launcher in the 46th Separate Assault Battalion, also known as the Donbas Battalion.
But shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Kuzmina’s commander disbanded the unit, citing a lack of resources.
“We had nothing, we had no ammunition, we had nothing to protect ourselves with,” she said, adding that her unit commander “told the battalion commander, ‘I’m not going to let my guys fall into the crossfire.'”
She also had personal obligations: Intense military operations in her hometown of Trestsk meant her sick father could not receive treatment there, so she moved him to another town and left the army herself to focus on caring for him.
Kuzmina joined the military in 2020. Yulia Kuzmina
In May, she wanted another way to actively support the Ukrainian war effort and decided to join a local substation.
“Working on the power grid is important to me because this vital infrastructure is under constant bombardment right now,” she said of Russian attacks on power facilities. “The enemy is attacking us from all sides. They are trying to manipulate us.”
The attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities are part of a Russian operation aimed at instituting blackouts across the country. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last month that Russia had damaged or destroyed more than half of Ukraine’s electricity generation.
According to Reuters, there have been 11 missile and drone attacks on power plants and gas stations in 2024 alone, and local residents are concerned about how the infrastructure will hold up during the colder months when they need more energy for heating.
Ukraine has also targeted Russian refineries and oil terminals in an effort to weaken the Kremlin’s military power.
Employment gap
The conflict is now in its third year, creating a major labor shortage.
Tens of thousands of people have volunteered to serve in the army, and 650,000 men have left the country to avoid conscription, according to Eurostat estimates. According to the United Nations, some 6.3 million people, mostly women and children, have left Ukraine as refugees, and 3.7 million are internally displaced, creating a huge shortage of young, skilled workers.
“It’s fair to say that both blue-collar and white-collar jobs are affected,” said Yana Lukashuk, head of recruitment at Kiev-based job placement agency Lobby X. “Men who have joined the military and women, with or without children, who have fled the country from all sectors are creating a huge gap in the market.”
Kuzmina is one of two female employees at her power plant, but she is also one of several women who have stepped up to take vacant blue-collar jobs that were primarily filled by men.
“In some regions where there is a shortage of men, there is nothing else for women to do but fill many key vacancies, so we are seeing more female candidates becoming factory workers, engineers, drivers and so on,” Lukaszuk told BI.
The influence of Soviet-era laws
One expert told BI that this trend is particularly noteworthy given that Soviet laws prohibited women from working in around 450 professions.
Ukraine repealed the law in 2017, but its effects remain strong in society, said Olga Kupets, a professor of labor economics at Kyiv University of Economics.
Kupets said there was still legal debate about whether the restrictions would remain, and some coaches and instructors in the vocational education system weren’t ready to train women. Even if those two issues could be overcome, Kupets said there would be strong societal backlash.
“On the one hand, there is a talent shortage, a shortage of men, and the government has formally signalled its intention to help women work in traditionally male-dominated fields,” she said of a government training programme introduced this year, “but at a very low level, we are seeing a lot of opposition and resistance from employers.”
In some cases, companies have opened jobs to everyone, but bosses have prevented women from applying, Kupetz said.
“This discrimination in the labor market comes not only from men, but also from women, such as mothers and stepmothers,” Kupets said.
Still, Kuzmina, the electrician, said she sees women working around her and on social media.
“I was in the army and I realized I was no longer of any use there,” Kuzmina said, “But I want to help our country, our Ukraine. I can’t just sit back and wait.”
If you’re from Ukraine and have a story about the war and how it affected your career, get in touch with us at shubhangigoel@insider.com.