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Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) are taking enormous daily risks to support civilians living on the frontline of Russia’s war on Ukraine.  In towns and villages across the Kharkiv region and beyond, they deliver humanitarian aid to those in urgent need of food, medicine, and clothing, and evacuate elderly and vulnerable residents from communities under sustained attack. Some do this work full-time, while others join when they can.  Few had any prior experience of activism before February 2022.

In our new report for Human Rights First, , we document the scale of this work and the risks it entails, based on interviews with women operating on the frontlines of the conflict.

We have worked alongside WHRDs in Ukraine since the Russian invasion of 2014 and made dozens of visits to frontline areas since 2022, particularly in the Kharkiv region.  We have assisted with evacuations, documenting war crimes, and reporting on the work of local activists.

Across conflict settings, women experience war differently from men.  The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights Defenders has these environments as a “hypermasculinized context of war.”  In Ukraine, this is evident in their  from peace negotiations, despite their central role in the humanitarian response.  WHRDs face distinct challenges shaped by entrenched gender norms.  They are often criticized or stigmatized for actions for which men are praised, and their legitimacy as defenders continues to be questioned, even as they carry out some of the most dangerous work in the conflict.

The report highlights the breadth of this work through the experiences of the women it features.  Some, like Yelyzaveta Klykov, came to evacuation work after being displaced themselves, returning to Ukraine and joining volunteer teams operating in high-risk areas.  Julia Indyk has become a highly experienced evacuation driver, carrying out missions almost daily and evacuating hundreds, if not thousands, of civilians from areas under sustained shelling.  Police officers such as Yulia Honcharenko have taken on the task of evacuating vulnerable populations, including children, coordinating with local authorities and military leadership in rapidly changing and often dangerous conditions.

Alongside evacuations, WHRDs are central to delivering humanitarian assistance.  Volunteers such as Lydmyla Chausova transport food, medicine, and other essentials to communities near the frontline, often using their own resources.  Some, including Nataliia Halunenko, have retrained to provide medical support, operating ambulances and delivering care in active conflict zones.  Others combine this work with long-term community support, including mental health assistance for displaced children and efforts to strengthen local governance.

This work is taking place under conditions of constant and escalating risk.  As one WHRD noted, “things can change minute to minute… you never know if the road out is safe.” Vehicles used for humanitarian purposes have been targeted, and volunteers have been killed while carrying out rescue operations.  Yuliia Keleberda, a police officer with the White Angels evacuation unit, was killed by a Russian Lancet drone while carrying out a rescue mission in February 2026.

In January 2025, with the help of LLM students from the School of Law, Queen’s University ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ, Human Rights First used open source technology to document the drone attack that killed Tigran in a report called Targeted and Killed.  Now the threat from drones has escalated further.  Advances in drone technology have increased the range and precision of attacks, and existing systems are often inadequate to detect incoming threats.

The intensity of the work has grown, and the number of people able to carry it out has shrunk, with some killed, or mobilized into the armed forces.  As one volunteer put it, “women are able to do this work because we’re not wanted for the military.”  Alongside technical skill and experience, they bring an ability to remain calm under pressure, de-escalate tense situations, and build trust with civilians who are reluctant to leave their homes.

Despite the risks, WHRDs operate with limited resources and support.  As one volunteer said, “The main problem is the lack of money… fuel is becoming more expensive.”  Many fund their work themselves, covering the costs of fuel, vehicle maintenance, and supplies.  As international attention to the war declines, funding and visibility have diminished, making these efforts difficult to sustain.

There is a clear gap between the risks WHRDs are taking and the support they receive.  The report sets out recommendations to address this, including more direct and sustained funding, closer engagement with women defenders working on the frontlines, and their inclusion in peace processes.

Read the Report .

Professor Brian Dooley

Brian Dooley is an Honorary Professor of Practice at the Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice and a Senior Advisor at Human Rights First, a US-based NGO.   He specialises in working with Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) in conflict and post-conflict contexts, and was senior advisor to the UN Special Rapporteur on HRDs, Mary Lawlor, from 2020 to 2023.   His most recent work has been in the Hong Kong revolution and on Russia’s war on Ukraine.  He has also written two books related to the conflict in Northern Ireland, including a comparative study of the civil rights movements in the US and Northern Ireland.

Suchita Uppal