‘Fighting for our people’: femininity and violence in portrayals of women who use drones in Ukraine

Men outnumber women as military drone operators, both in media narratives and in reality, as prominent Western militaries such as the US and the UK have far more men than women in their ranks. In recent years, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought newfound attention to the use of drone warfare; specifically, how the media overwhelming spotlights male drone operators. However, portrayals of women in drone operations have always lurked at the margins, with institutes such as the School of Pilotesses teaching women to utilise drones for the Ukrainian cause. This paper examines how militarised Ukrainian women who use drones have been portrayed in Western media. I conduct a reflexive thematic analysis of news reports on Ukrainian women drone operators, grounding my analysis in feminist theory on characterisations of female violence. I argue that the portrayal of Ukrainian women paints women’s violence as exceptional, positions their service in relation to men and motherhood, and showcases a nationalist pride in service that situates their daily lives as oppositional to the masculine military system. Despite reinforcing these narrative tropes, these portrayals also show instances of women’s political agency, hinting at changing dynamics in how women’s violence is discussed in Western media.