Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Ministry of Defence Ukraine planning to train all army women wear high heels during the marching parade.
Female soldiers will hold a parade celebrating the 30th anniversary of independence from the Soviet Union on August 24.
CNN reported the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense news agency, Army Inform. Ukrainian Ministry of Defense official Major Eugene Balabusha said the female soldiers had been training twice a day to master the formation and movement while wearing high heels.
He confirmed that the female soldiers would wear high heels during the parade.
Ivamma Medvid, a cadet at the Military Institute of Taras Shevchenko National University in Kiev, said she had been training for more than a month.
“Today, for the first time, training was done in high heels. It’s a bit more difficult than boots, but we keep trying,” said Medvid.
The parade plan in high-heeled shoes has drawn criticism and criticism, including from a number of members of parliament. The criticism came after the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense released photos of female personnel in heels.
Deputy Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament, Elena Kondratyuk, hopes Defense Minister Andrei Taran can re-evaluate the decision to march women soldiers in high heels.
In a joint statement, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Ukraine Olga Stefanishina; Minister of Social Policy Marina Lazebnaya; Minister of Veterans Affairs Yulia Laputina; and the Ukrainian Government’s Envoy for Gender Equality Policy Yekaterina Levchenko criticized the Ministry of Defense’s decision.
“Shoes with high heels do not match the combat capabilities of the army and a ‘Prussian’ step on a parade in such shoes is a deliberate hazard to the health of soldiers,” read a joint statement posted on Stefanishina’s Facebook on Friday last week.
So far there are 57,000 female soldiers serving in the Ukrainian armed forces. The country also applies the principle of unconditional equality of rights and obligations of soldiers, regardless of their gender.
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