How to help Ukraine: Zemliachky and procuring gear for women in Ukraine’s armed forces (Patreon)

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, 

Thank you for your continued support. Almost a year ago, we launched the “How to help Ukraine” newsletter for our members because we heard from you that there’s interest in getting more involved to help Ukraine.

Each month, we send one edition of this newsletter, highlighting an organization supporting Ukraine and giving you a closer look at civil society — along with opportunities to donate or, in some cases, volunteer.

In the eleventh edition of “How to Help Ukraine,” we’re proud to share with you the work of Zemliachky, an organization that procures essential gear for women in Ukraine’s armed forces, including uniforms, body armor, and helmets, specifically designed for female anatomy. 

Zemliachky is currently raising money for basic equipment kits for women in Ukraine’s armed forces. A complete kit costs about $1,100, and includes equipment like uniforms designed for female anatomy, plate carriers adapted for a woman’s body, lightweight class 6 body armor, tactical boots and helmets in smaller sizes, and a sleeping bag and mat. Zemliachky responds to individual requests from female service members, and not every request is the same — some women just need to replace their body armor or a winter uniform, while others may need to replace everything at once, if their position were hit, for example. Zemliachky receives about 150 of these requests each week — more than the organization is able to cover — but every donation makes a difference for their mission. For context, a female uniform costs about $260, while body armor costs over $400, and a sleeping bag and mat cost about $110. You can make a contribution to Zemliachky for these basic equipment kits via PayPal here or with Google or Apple Pay via Monobank here. 

Female service members in Ukraine’s armed forces who received gear provided by Zemliachky. (Courtesy of Zemliachky)

Kseniia Drahaniuk, one of the Zemliachky co-founders, stands with equipment that has been procured for basic equipment kits. (Courtesy of Zemliachky)

Zemliachky (Ukrainian for “female compatriot”) is a Ukrainian NGO that was founded by Andrii Kolesnyk and Kseniia Drahaniuk in March 2022. Andrii’s sister Nastia left her civilian life and joined the Ukrainian armed forces along with her fiancé on the first day of Russia’s full-scale invasion — and her experiences revealed how Ukraine still lacks sufficient gear for women in its military. 

In 2022, Zemliachky began its work by sending boxes of humanitarian aid to female soldiers, since they were not provided with any hygiene supplies. These boxes included essentials, like lip balm, sanitary pads, shower gel, intimate wash, shampoo, facial care products, SPF, wet wipes, socks, underwear, a urinary funnel, toilet paper, painkillers, as well as a handmade charm from volunteers, like traditional motanka doll. Andrii’s sister Nastia was the first person that Zemliachky ever sent a care package to. (Unfortunately, a year into her service, her husband was killed in action, and Nastia became a veteran and a widow at age 25.)

Right now, there are over 75,000 women in Ukraine’s armed forces, and about 10,000 women in combat roles — all of whom voluntarily joined, since women cannot be conscripted. But despite the number of women in its military, Ukraine is still developing basic gear for female service members. For context, the U.S. has spent over 50 years developing uniforms for women, while in Ukraine, the first approved designs of female uniforms are just now available, but are still far from meeting the quality and functionality needed for combat conditions. Standard military gear designed for men is heavier and can be uncomfortable, which compromises both safety and effectiveness when used by women. 

Zemliachky works directly with women in Ukraine’s military, fulfilling individual requests for gear and working to develop uniforms for women based on their feedback. Zemliachky’s main initiative is providing these basic equipment kits for female service members. The kits include a uniform, body armor, a helmet, tactical boots, a sleeping bag, and a mat. Small changes in basic gear can make a big impact: For instance, switching to lightweight armor plating and plate carriers can help reduce 35 pounds of body armor to just 13 pounds. This increases the mobility and endurance of female soldiers, reducing physical strain and directly improving their safety. 

Since its start in 2022, Zemliachky has fulfilled over 31,000 individual requests from women in Ukraine’s armed forces, amounting to just under $5.7 million in equipment, including: 

Over 18,800 boxes of humanitarian aid for women

9,500 sets of female uniforms

3,420 units of armor (plate carriers, armor plates, helmets), as well as 1,650 plate carriers designed for female anatomy 

35,000 athletic shirts

10,500 pairs of footwear 

Thousands of fleece jackets, socks, thermal wear, tactical underwear, and other essential clothing items

In addition to their work procuring gear for women in Ukraine’s armed forces, Zemliachky also helps develop psychological support for military personnel and veterans (both men and women) and runs regular rehabilitation retreats in the Carpathians for female veterans who have been in captivity or in active combat zones. 

Further, Zemliachky works to promote gender equality in the military, creating awareness campaigns and sharing the stories of female service members, helping to normalize women serving in the military, as well as cooperating directly with Ukrainian government institutions and advocating for changes in the standards and procurement of gear for female soldiers. 

Right now, Zemliachky is raising money for basic equipment kits, and you can make a donation to help procure uniforms, body armor and plate carriers, tactical boots, helmets, and a sleeping bag and mat for women in Ukraine’s armed forces. Gear designed for female anatomy makes a real difference in improving the safety for female service members, but unfortunately, Zemliachky cannot fulfill all of the requests they receive due to limited funding. The team prioritizes requests based on the soldier’s proximity to the front line — i.e. the closer to the kill zone, the higher the urgency.  

To put this in perspective, in 2025 alone, Zemliachky received more than 6,000 requests, but they were only able to fulfill about 62% of them. So far in 2026, there are already 160 female soldiers on the waitlist to just receive body armor, costing about $64,000.

You can make a donation to Zemliachky via PayPal, with Google or Apple Pay via Monobank, or via direct bank donation with the following information: 

Recipient: ГО «ЗЕМЛЯЧКИ»

Account number (IBAN): UA653220010000026005990000734

EDRPOU / Registration number: 44860676

Legal address: Україна, 01011, м.Київ, вул. Рибальська, будинок 13, офіс 4

Recipient bank: АТ"УНІВЕРСАЛ БАНК", Київ, Україна.

MFO/bank identification code: 322001

Payment purpose: Благодійна безповоротна пожертва на статутну діяльність організації. (Non-refundable charitable donation for the statutory activities of the organization.) 

Every contribution makes a difference. You can also follow Zemliachky’s work on Instagram or LinkedIn.  

Thank you for your support — and we hope you find these letters highlighting organizations like Zemliachky useful. If you have any questions or feedback about our newsletter, please feel free to respond directly to this email or reach out via email at a.chernova@kyivindependent.com and let us know what you think of this membership benefit.