Ukrainian body armor designed for female soldiers, not pregnant women | Fact check

Hannah Hudnall, USA TODAY
·3 min read
12

The claim: Image shows Ukrainian battle uniform for pregnant women

A Sept. 16 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows a screenshot of a Telegram post with a picture of a woman wearing camouflage body armor standing with a group observing her.

"Ukraine demonstrated 'Special uniform for pregnant Ukrainian women in war,'" reads text within the Telegram post.

The Instagram post's caption says, "This is where your money is going. To put pregnant women on the battlefield."

The post garnered more than 100 likes in less than two weeks. Similar versions of the post have been shared on Facebook and X, formerly Twitter.

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Our rating: False

The protective armor in the image was designed for female soldiers, according to the manufacturer. It wasn't specifically created for pregnant women.

Body armor designed for female soldiers, not pregnant women

The bottom-right corner of the uniformed woman's picture shows the X username "@maria_avdv." That X account belongs to Maria Avdeeva, a security expert who has been "countering Russian disinformation since 2014," according to her X profile.

She shared a video of the woman wearing the body armor on Sept. 14, saying it was designed for women. Avdeeva makes no mention of pregnant women in the post.

"Presentation of body armor specially designed for women – a long overdue initiative," reads the X post's caption. "With 5000 women serving in combat roles, this is essential for better protection."

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The manufacturing company Ukrainian Armor said the body armor is quicker to take off, weighs less than men's standard armor, is tailored to the female anatomy and has an evenly distributed weight, Ukrainian outlet Ukrainska Pravda reported.

The report from Ukraiska Pravda does not mention the armor being designed for pregnant women. There are no credible news reports about the Ukrainians unveiling body armor specifically for pregnant women.

However, there are reports of pregnant Ukrainian women fighting in the war against Russia.

Andriy Kolesnyk, the founder of Zemliachky, a group dedicated to supporting Ukrainian women serving in the armed forces, told The Daily Beast he knows numerous pregnant women serving in the military who requested specially designed uniforms.

“For a housewife somewhere in Oregon, it would probably sound crazy that pregnant women fight on the front to defend Ukraine, but our country is constantly under attack, so even pregnant women fight against Russian invaders until they are seven months pregnant," he said. "I currently have requests for specially designed uniforms and other important items from at least 10 pregnant soldiers. We have shortages for every single item… So far nobody has managed to actually help.”

In November 2022, Radio Free Europe reported on Yevhenia Emerald, a woman who at the time was pregnant and serving in the Ukrainian Army as a sniper.

USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

The claim was also debunked by Lead Stories.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ukrainian body armor falsely linked to pregnant women | Fact check