Women Activists Risk Their Lives Daily to Rescue Civilians on Ukraine’s Front Lines
A new Human Rights First report reveals the deadly risks faced by Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) on Ukraine’s front lines, where colleagues have been targeted and killed by Russian drones. In Risk and Response: Women Human Rights Defenders on Ukraine’s Frontline, activists describe evacuating civilians, delivering aid, and sustaining communities under constant attack—while confronting escalating danger and limited support. The report’s recommendations include increased support to WHRDs, their meaningful inclusion in peace processes and decision-making, and increased public recognition of their work and the risks they face.
For several years Human Rights First has worked alongside these women based in Kharkiv near the frontline of Russia’s war on Ukraine. The new report highlights the central role they play in frontline response. “These women are doing some of the most dangerous work in the war. They drive into active combat zones, evacuate families under drone fire, and return again and again, but their work is still not properly recognized,” said Brian Dooley, Senior Advisor at Human Rights First and co-author of the report. “Governments and donors should be doing much more to support the activists keeping civilians alive.”
Human Rights First has been working alongside Human Rights Defenders in Ukraine since the Russian invasion of 2014. Since the full-scale invasion in 2022, it has made dozens of visits to frontline areas in the north-eastern region of Kharkiv, documenting war crimes and supporting evacuation and humanitarian efforts.
Today’s report focuses on WHRDs engaged in frontline evacuations, humanitarian assistance, and community support, and the risks, gendered barriers, and resource constraints they face. It shows how evacuation work exposes them to constant shelling and increasingly sophisticated drone attacks, with some activists killed during rescue missions. Many also face gender-based stigma and must fund their work themselves as international attention declines.
“This report reflects what these women themselves are telling us, about the risks they take and the barriers they continue to face,” said Suchita Uppal. “What emerges clearly is that they are central to Ukraine’s response, yet there remains a disconnect between those risks and the support they receive.”
