MILITARY WOMEN OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR AND THE CURRENT RUSSIAN- UKRAINIAN WAR IN THE POLITICS OF MEMORY: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

Abstract

The research is devoted to a comparative analysis of the policy of remem- brance in relation to military women of the Red Army during the Second World War and military women of the modern Russian-Ukrainian war. The changes in the Soviet policy of memory regarding women in the military in the late 1940s – 1980s are considered, and their dependence on government regulation is shown. Attention is focused on the silencing of the contribu- tion of women in the military during the late Stalinism and the selective presentation of women’s military experiences during the Khrushchev Thaw and Brezhnev’s «stagnation», as well as the limited «disclosure» of the diversity of women’s military experiences during the period of «glasnost». The author analyzes the changes of the role of women in the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the context of the current Russian-Ukrainian war. An overview of the policy of memory implemented in relation to women in the military of the modern Russian-Ukrainian war is provided. It is noted that the policy of memory in relation to women who served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine is characterized by both the presence of a fairly wide range of forms and the expansion of actors who shape it. In addition to the state authorities, civic projects and organizations play an active role in the policy of memory for women, both independently and in cooperation with state institutions. Some of the most well-known projects formed with the full or partial partic- ipation of civil society organizations are: the film «The Invisible Battalion», the video series «Stories of Women Who Died for Ukraine», and the project to create places of remembrance called «Alleys of Memory of Women Who Died for Ukraine».