The Russian private military company "Redut," which is sponsored by the main intelligence agency of the Russian Federation, is recruiting women to send them to the front lines in Ukraine, according to the Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom.
It is noted that recently, advertisements were circulated in Russian social media, encouraging new recruits to join the "Borz" battalion, which is part of the Russian private military company "Redut." In these advertisements, women were urged to work as snipers and drone operators.
British intelligence speculates that "Redut" is directly sponsored by the main intelligence agency of Russia.
They also recalled that in March 2023, the Russian Minister of Defence, Sergey Shoigu, stated that there were 1,100 women deployed in Ukraine. According to him, this represents approximately 0.3% of the total number of occupying forces.
"As Redut’s advert points out, they currently serve in mostly medical support and food service roles," the Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom emphasizes.
However, it remains unclear whether the official Russian defense forces will attempt to create more combat roles for women.
"Women have rarely taken front line fighting roles within pro-Russian forces during the current conflict; however, there was a strong tradition of female snipers and other combat troops in Soviet forces during the Second World War," adds British intelligence.
