Ukrainian women leaders, as the new civil elite of Ukraine, in the face of the challenges of the Russo-Ukrainian War

Nobel Peace Prize recepient and human rights defender Oleksandra Matviichuk during a panel discussion at the Yalta European Forum in 2023. Photo: Shutterstock

Today, Ukraine is in a critical phase of war, and more than ever it needs military and financial support from western countries to defeat the modern axis of evil (a coalition of Russia, North Korea and Iran). Support from the West does not always arrive on time, which leads to the loss of territories and human lives. One of the key factors influencing the rate of western support is the strength of advocacy from leaders of Ukrainian civil society, in particular women leaders.

At a time when the western world is tired of the war in Ukraine, and is beginning to trust the political leadership of Ukraine less, the advocacy mission of civil society representatives, in particular Ukrainian women leaders, is becoming critically important.

The key goals of Ukrainian advocacy:

1. Mobilizing the world around global initiatives that are necessary for Ukrainian victory, namely the “Tribunal for Putin” (T4P) as well as #MakeRussiaPay. This second initiative aims to transfer to Ukraine frozen Russian assets amounting to 300 billion US dollars that are located in G7 and EU countries.

2. Quick responses to the emergence of unexpected crisis moments in the context of financial and military support from western countries to Ukraine (for example, the recent financial aid package to Ukraine from the US government in the amount of 60 billion US dollars).

Women leaders and their goals

Currently, Oleksandra Matviichuk is one of the key figures fighting for Ukraine’s interests on the international stage. Mrs. Matviichuk is a Ukrainian human rights defender and head of the Center for Civil Liberties who was awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize. After the full-scale invasion, she became involved in documenting the war crimes of the Russians in Ukraine. She has received a number of awards and honours, including from The Anthem Awards (2023), TOP-100, the BBC (2022), the Democracy Award (2022) and many others.

Oleksandra Matviichuk and the Center for Civil Liberties are focused on the implementation of two global initiatives. These are the aforementioned initiatives “Tribunal for Putin” (T4P) and #MakeRussiaPay. “Tribunal for Putin” is a global initiative that was created in February 2022 (CCL is one of the co-founders of the initiative). Participants in the initiative document the crimes of the Russian military, which has engaged in acts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The initiative aims to use the existing mechanisms of the UN, the Council of Europe, the OSCE, the EU and the International Criminal Court to prevent these brutal crimes and bring the perpetrators to justice. #MakeRussiaPay is an initiative aimed at obtaining Russian assets that were frozen by the G7 countries and the European Union at the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The CCL notes that the confiscated Russian funds will help Ukraine rebuild the infrastructure destroyed by the Russians, treat the wounded and support those affected by the war. Most importantly, these funds will help strengthen Ukraine’s defence capabilities so that it can further deter Russian aggression and ultimately win the war.

The #MakeRussiaPay initiative also involves a petition to the leaders of the G7 and EU countries. In addition to the Center for Civil Liberties, the Anticorruption Action Centre and the International Center for Ukrainian Victory (ICUV) also helped with this campaign. Both initiatives are primarily about bringing Russia to justice and establishing responsibility, in particular in the economic sphere. The International Center of Ukrainian Victory is the partner advocacy structure for the CCL. It was created immediately after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. The purpose of creating the organization is to mobilize the world around a Ukrainian victory. ICUV was created by other women leaders within Ukrainian civil society, in particular Daria Kaleniuk, Hanna Hopko, Olena Halushka and Olga Aivazovska. All these figures, in addition to being the founders of ICUV, have been working for many years in the public, anti-corruption, security, legal and communication sectors both in Ukraine and abroad.

Daria Kaleniuk is a well-known Ukrainian public activist who works in the anti-corruption sector. She is currently the executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center. Mrs. Kaleniuk is the founder of various resources designed for tracking money laundering and corruption at the international level, as well as a member of the Young Global Leaders (WEF) and Munich Young Leaders (MSC) international networks. Mrs. Kaleniuk is included in the list of the 100 most successful women of Ukraine according to the magazine Novoye Vremya.

Olena Halushka also works at the Anti-Corruption Action Center, where she is the head of the international relations department. Mrs. Halushka also previously worked as the head of international advocacy in the post-Maidan coalition of 80 civil society organizations called “Reanimation Package of Reforms” (2015-17) and was a deputy of the Kyiv City Council. She is a contributor to the Atlantic Council and KyivPost and has also written articles for the Washington Post, Foreign Policy and the EU Observer.

Hanna Hopko is the head of the National Interest Advocacy Network “ANTS”. Hopko was one of the public leaders of the Revolution of Dignity after Euromaidan and later she became a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for the pro-European Self Reliance party. After the full-scale invasion, Hopko has carried out advocacy missions for international support for Ukraine. In particular, she has campaigned for western countries to provide Leopard and Abrams tanks, as well as F-16s and ATACAMS to Ukraine.

Olga Aivazovska, in addition to being a member of the board of ICUV, is also the head of the NGO “Civic Network OPORA” (a non-governmental organization campaigning for public control and advocacy in the field of elections, etc.). From 2010 to 2020, Mrs. Aivazovska was the director of various non-partisan observation missions in Ukraine, which involved more than 25,000 activists. She also participated in election observation missions in more than ten European countries. Furthermore, Aivazovska represented Ukraine in the political subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group (Ukraine-Russia-OSCE) on conflict settlement in eastern Ukraine (2016-18). She was one of the top 100 most influential and successful women of Ukraine in the years between 2014 and 2021 according to political editions of the magazines Focus and Novoye Vremya.

Why are these women key to Ukrainian victory and what unites them?

For western democracies and their governments, it is extremely important to control the financial and military aid provided to Ukraine. For the G7 countries and various other European countries, the truth is key to their actions. Practically all of the aforementioned Ukrainian women leaders have built up this important trust. This trust was primarily formed through a western education or internship at leading universities in the US and Europe (Olekandra Matviichuk – Stanford University, Daria Kaleniuk – Chicago-Kent College of Law, Hanna Hopko – Oxford University, Olga Aivazovska – Stanford University). This shows that the worldview and value orientations of these women coincide with the values ​​of western societies and governments. They are heard where the voices of Ukrainian politicians do not always reach.

Even before the Russian invasion, this group was part of the “voice of the West” in the promotion and implementation of reforms in Ukraine, in particular in the fields of fighting corruption and human rights. All of them have occupied various positions that before the full-scale invasion allowed them to cooperate with the governments of the United States and EU countries, as well as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Swedish Agency for International Cooperation and Development (SIDA), etc. Therefore, western politicians of the highest level are ready to listen and hear them but Ukrainian women leaders also need the support of each of us every day.

Recently, the authoritative Ukrainian online publication Ukrainska Pravda presented the project “UP 100. Power of Women”. As noted, “In conditions of full-scale war, women leaders side by side with men protect Ukraine at the front, turn difficult circumstances into opportunities for their businesses or communities in the rear and move the country forward.”

Please support Ukrainian women leaders, as well as everyone who fights against modern terrorism, sign the #MakeRussiaPay petition.

After all, as Oleksandra Matviichuk said in her speech at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony: “We don’t have time. Time for us is converted into death. You don’t have to be Ukrainians to support Ukraine. It is enough just to be humans.

Andrii Kutsyk holds a PhD in Philosophy of Media (Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University) and an MA in Eastern European Studies (University of Warsaw). He is a research scholarship holder at the Artes Liberalis Faculty at the University of Warsaw, a member of the Research Institute for European Policy and a secretary at the European Journal of Transformation Studies. In 2024, he also received the Ivan Vyhovsky Prize.

Please support New Eastern Europe's crowdfunding campaign. Donate by clicking on the button below.

female leaders, Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine at war, Ukrainian, women, women role, Women's rights