The female face of the Russian army. Special forces: how women serve in the Russian army

Women can also serve in the army of the Russian Federation. All that is required is to meet the relevant requirements and successfully pass the pre-selection. Modern women are more and more emancipated and self-confident, which allows them to serve on equal terms with men in the army. At the moment, there are about 60,000 women in the Russian army.

The Russian Federation does not provide for a mandatory military conscription for women. However, any girl can voluntarily join the army by concluding a contract. There is a list of positions approved by the Ministry of Defense for which women are hired. Having entered the contract, women receive a social package of guarantees, as well as a package of compensations prescribed in social regulations.

To be eligible to serve in the military, a woman must be between the ages of 18 and 40. Education is not lower than secondary, and some positions require professional or higher education.

You will also need to pass a health check, as well as pass the standards for physical fitness.

There are a number of restrictions according to which a woman cannot serve, these are:

Age limit.
The presence of a criminal record. Even if the conviction is extinguished, it will still become an obstacle.
If a criminal case is opened against the candidate, or a sentence is passed.

Women who are married and also with children can serve in the military on an equal basis with everyone else. The main condition will be that entering the military service does not become a negative factor in family relations.

How to enter the military service for a woman

In order to enter the military service, a woman must apply to the military registration and enlistment office at the place of residence, or directly to the military unit. You will need to provide a package of documents:

Passport.
Questionnaire of the established form ():

Copy of work book.
Extract from the house book.
Documents about education.
If available, a marriage certificate, as well as a birth certificate of children.
Several photos 3 by 4 and 9 by 12.
Characteristics from the previous place of work or study.

We all know that war is not a woman's business. However, a large number of the fair sex are serving in the armed forces today. It is worth recognizing that the Russian Ministry of Defense is actually fighting the stereotypes that military service is “not a woman’s business.” Although the total number of women in the Russian army over the past 5 years has decreased by almost three times. Currently, about 11 thousand women in uniform are serving in the Russian army.. On March 5, 2013, Lieutenant Colonel Elena Stepanova, who is the head of the department for monitoring social processes of the Research (Sociological) Center of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, spoke about this.

According to Stepanova, 4,300 female officers serve in the Russian army. At the same time, the reduction in their numbers in recent years is associated with a general trend towards a reduction in the number of the RF Armed Forces. At the same time, Elena Stepanova emphasized that the motivation of women for military service is quite high. Here, in no case, we are talking about challenging the strong half of humanity or some kind of competition. Today, a woman goes to serve in the army not in order to demonstrate her significance or strength, but in order to realize herself in the military professional sphere.

Of all these women, about 1.5% are in primary command positions., the rest of this category of military personnel serves in staff positions or is involved as specialists in the medical service, signal troops, financial services, etc. Besides:

- 1.8% of female officers have operational-tactical military training;
- 31.2% - have full military special training;
- 19% received military training, studying at the military departments of civilian higher educational institutions.

At present, female servicemen are serving under a contract in the positions of sergeants and privates in almost all branches and types of troops, military districts, formations and units. Many of them serve even in the Airborne Forces.

The issue of women serving in the Russian army is not new at all. Yes, in tsarist Russia, women were not taken to military service - in those days, women were engaged in the business to which they were intended by nature itself - they gave birth to children and were engaged in their subsequent upbringing. Only individual women who perceived their gender as a mistake made by nature, secretly under the guise of men made their way into the army.

During the Soviet era, women entered the armed forces. They participated in the Civil War and the Great Patriotic War. At the same time, women took a massive part in the Great Patriotic War, they mainly served as radio operators, nurses, and typists at headquarters. But at the same time, many women were pilots and snipers.

After the war, some of them continued to serve in the armed forces in their usual positions, but their number was relatively small. At the same time, in connection with the collapse of the USSR and the processes of democratization, it seems that Russia has decided to increase the presence of women not only in state administration, but also in the armed forces. At a certain time, the number of women in uniform reached 50 thousand people, which was up to 5% of the size of the Russian army, but recently their reduction has been observed.

Back in 2008, Vladimir Putin signed a decree, according to which underage girls were allowed to study in the Nakhimov naval, Suvorov military, military music schools, as well as cadet corps. Moreover, for several years now, the St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs has been accepting women, who make up 25% of the total number of students. In general, if we also take the police, then the number of women in uniform will increase significantly. About 180 thousand of the fair sex serve in the police, including 5 major generals and 1 lieutenant general.

At the same time, unlike the American army, no one has ever forbidden our women soldiers to take part in hostilities. There is simply no division into "non-combat" and "combat" positions by gender in the Russian army. If a woman wears epaulets on her shoulders, then the commander has every right to send her to the trenches on the front line or throw her into the attack. Even in our relatively "peaceful" time 710 women of the Russian army managed to take part in the hostilities.

Moreover, throwing grenades, shooting from personal weapons, driving equipment, and even running tanks in recent years have become the same mandatory training for female military personnel that they have long been for the male half of the Russian army. Women have long been wearing a uniform for all military field uniforms, but it is worth recognizing that even at the training grounds they do not completely forget about cosmetics or beautiful earrings in their ears. Many commanders look condescendingly on these small deviations from the statutory uniformity.

However, this cannot be said about the observance of other elements of army everyday life. In the army, in this regard, equality, which feminists are striving for today. Women take up duties and outfits with the same rights as men. At the same time, they are also asked for their service to the fullest extent. Unless they were put in a guardhouse and forced to run around the stadium with full combat equipment. At the same time, the latter is quite often practiced in the American army.

At the same time, in Russia, the military has always observed an unspoken gentlemen's agreement, according to which, as far as possible, they tried to protect the representatives of the weaker sex from any danger, especially while they were in "hot spots". Since the Russian Ministry of Defense did not issue special orders that would exempt women from combat missions, they went to areas of armed conflicts along with their headquarters and units. At the same time, they were practically not seen in battle formations, the rule already mentioned above worked: a woman can serve in a medical battalion, at a communications center, at headquarters. But let him not ask to be on the front line, men will expose their heads to bullets.

Today, women in the Russian army also reach high commanding heights. Thus, the Deputy Head of the Main Directorate of International Military Cooperation (GUMVS) of the RF Ministry of Defense is Major General Elena Knyazeva, who, having received this title, after a long break, became the only woman in the Russian military generals.

Women even penetrated into such a purely “male” branch of the military as the Airborne Forces. For example, the media has repeatedly published information that in the famous 76th division of the Airborne Forces, stationed in Pskov, there are about 383 women, among them 16 officers. At the same time, if women in the medical and financial services have not surprised anyone for a long time, then women in the position of platoon commanders are a rather rare phenomenon. It was in this position in the communications battalion that Lieutenant Ekaterina Anikeeva served as a guard, while all her subordinates were men.

Moreover, the Ryazan Airborne School does not stand still. This famous educational institution, which today teaches applicants from 32 countries of the world, has begun to accept girls since 2008. The fair sex is invited to learn a profession called "Application of airborne support units." School graduates - female officers will command parachute stackers, as well as help drop military equipment and paratroopers, including using complex multi-dome systems and special platforms.

Psychophysical characteristics of women

As studies specially carried out in Russia, the results of which were announced at the first congress of military doctors of medical and preventive profile, show that female military personnel represent a fairly significant reserve for replenishing and manning the Russian Armed Forces, while they have no fundamental contraindications for military service.

Moreover, the results of the conducted studies indicate that women in the army are characterized by a higher level of health compared to male military personnel. And the Russian army itself already has experience working with women, who, among other things, are serving under a contract. This was also reflected in the "Manual on physical training in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation" put into effect on April 21, 2009.

It is believed that women are the "weaker sex", but this is not true. Yes, it is known that the physical strength of a woman with equal body weight is slightly less than that of men, but at the same time, this lack of physical strength can be compensated by the skill of handling weapons and the woman's fitness. A trained female soldier is able to easily defeat an untrained man..

At the same time, women have another advantage - they are more resilient. It is no coincidence that the world record for swimming long distances belongs to the fair sex. Women are not only more resilient than men, but also more resistant to stress. This was shown by studies carried out at the Military Medical Academy. Today, the fair sex is engaged in all specialties and professions that were previously considered purely masculine (not only from the point of view of men, but also women themselves).

Today, women not only fight in the ring, wrestle on the mat, fight bulls as matadors, but also move multi-ton cars and lift heavy weights. There is nothing surprising in the fact that, having mastered all the available civilian professions and occupations of the strong half of humanity, they turned their attention to the army. As it turned out, they serve in the armed forces no worse than men.

Women in the armies of the world

It is worth noting that women today serve in many armies of the world; in Israel, conscription service is mandatory for both men and women. If we talk about Europe, then the most "feminine" army today is the French one, in which 23 thousand women serve in uniform, which is 8% of the total number of personnel - from private to colonel. There are women in almost all parts, with the exception of the Marine Corps, the Foreign Legion and the crews of submarines.

Other successful examples of exercising their right to military service are the armies of the USA, Great Britain, Germany, Australia and Canada. So, according to data published by the Pentagon, out of 1.42 million soldiers and officers who are in active service, 205 thousand are women (more than 14%), while 64 of them have general and admiral ranks.

For many years, it was the navy in almost all countries of the world, without exception, that remained the most conservative type of armed forces regarding the presence of women in the service, but it also gradually became open to the fair sex. In 1995, Captain Solveig Krey became the first female submarine commander in the Norwegian Navy. At the end of 2011, Robin Walker became Commander (Rear Admiral) of the Australian Navy, and in 2012, the Frenchwoman Anna Kaller was included in the list of women elevated to this rank, who became the first woman commander in the French Navy with experience serving on ships.

In the old film G.I. Jane, Demi Moore's character proves that a woman can serve in the most difficult conditions on an equal footing with men. Our heroines do not prove anything to anyone. They just know that they can do everything, and they are sure that they will achieve their goal.

The stories of two girls who decided to serve their homeland -in the TASS material.

Girl with a wing

Marina Zakharova grew up in Yakutsk and studied at the Omsk Flight Technical College of Civil Aviation. In the near future, she plans to leave to serve in the army under a contract. She is 21, and so far she is only thinking about the near future: "The main thing iswhat is happening now."

Marina has an anchor on her left hand: a symbol of the fact that one must not go astray. And on the right - an inscription in Latin: "Seize the moment."

“At first, my parents didn’t like tattoos,” she says. “But I explained to them: this is self-expression, it’s beautiful. Now they understand and don’t say anything.”

Marina's parents are military. But the idea of joining the army, which their daughter had been talking about since the 11th grade, at first did not delight them.

“My parents said: first you need to get a diploma. Mom thought it was some kind of nonsense because of the transitional age. I hoped that these thoughts would pass, I would study and work. But after graduating from college, I made it clear that my plans did not change in any way. And the desire to serve only increased. Then my parents gave the go-ahead. They are even glad that I stand my ground, no matter what."

Marina graduated from college as an instrument technician, the person in charge of all the instrumentation on a helicopter. True, I didn’t have time to work, but I passed the practice. "I often hear that this is a male profession," she says. "But, if so, how do we girls study for three years, doing the same as the guys?"

As a child, Marina was a tomboy. I was involved in athletics for 11 years and even studied for a year in the Olympic reserve. She was fond of swimming and shooting. In the summer I went to military camps. Orders, military uniforms, constant physical work - all this does not frighten her: "I have always lived like this." It is also indifferent to her that the army is considered to be an unwomanly affair.

But Marina does not think so far yet: "The time will come - I'll think about it. Is it worth it to be afraid of death or captivity? Without danger, nowhere at all."

On her page on the VKontakte website, Marina writes about herself: "She was knocked off her head." She loves crazy things: she goes diving, and in her second year she bungee jumped off a bridge.

"I wanted thrills, to overcome myself, no matter how scary it was. Let's go and jump off ... Adrenaline is unreal. When you stand and look down, fear and desire fight in you. A step - and you are in free flight. Emotions overwhelm, your heart goes into heels. But only then comes an unreal feeling of freedom and happiness: I did it. " Now she plans to jump with a parachute.

Marina has a lot to do with flying. And not only studying at the flight college. In total, there are seven tattoos on her body: in addition to the anchor and the inscription "seize the moment", an Asian girl and the phrase in Latin "thank you parents for life" are stuffed on her arms. On the foot is an hourglass with the date of birth of the mother. On the back is an owl. And near the collarbone - a small wing. It will definitely be enough for a real flight.

Your freedom

Yana Kurakina grew up in Rostov-on-Don. She plans to leave to serve in the infantry under the contract. “The main thing is to successfully pass the medical examination,” she explains.And mental balance is very important.” She has no problems with that.

Yana has a status on the VKontakte social network: "It's better to ride the wave of freedom than to drown in it." "I love freedom," she explains. "But I shouldn't have too much of it. Above me, there should be a person who gives directions and makes demands. You can't do without them." Maybe that's why she is not afraid of the difficulties of army life: getting up on a schedule, following orders, wearing a uniform - all this seems to Yana a life that is quite suitable for her. "Especially since the shape is cool," she adds.

Yana is only 19, and she has already done a lot. Volunteer, donor, counselor, athlete - all this is about her. The girl wants to join the army from the age of 14. At first she planned to become a military psychologist and entered the Don State Technical University. But she dropped out of school, realizing that she wanted to go to the front line, and working with people and filling out documents was not for her.

Yana's friends supported Yana's decision, but her mother strongly opposed it. And any young man will be against it, the girl is sure. But this does not bother her: she is ready to connect her whole life with the army. “I don’t know why, but now I don’t want a family at all,” she explains, adding that she would go to any hot spot.

The fact that the army is traditionally considered an unfeminine affair seems unfair to Yana. But this does not bother her much: she has made her choice and does not plan to back down. Perhaps for her this is freedom. "After all, everyone has their own freedom," says Yana.

Women in the Russian army: statistics

Whether it’s a woman’s business or not, in 2015, about 35,000 women served in the Russian army. How and under what conditionsin our statistics.

Only contractors

Only male citizens are called up for urgent military service in Russia. Women can serve on a contract basis.
A woman wishing to serve under a contract must be no younger than 18 and no older than 40 years (the last condition is when concluding the first three-year contract).
Marital status and the presence of children (regardless of their age) cannot be an obstacle to service.
In addition, women with military registration specialties (doctors, signalmen, etc.) must be on the military register in Russia.
Women in the army are prohibited from being assigned to work related to carrying or moving loads exceeding 7 kg.
The average age of women in the RF Armed Forces is 35 years. The age limit for women in military service is 45 years.

population

In the late 2000s, more than 90,000 women served in the RF Armed Forces. After the increase in the requirements of the military department for contenders for service under the contract and in connection with the general reduction in the number of the RF Armed Forces, this number has significantly decreased.

According to the Ministry of Defense for 2015, about 35,000 female servicemen served in the Russian army (about 5% of the estimated actual strength of the RF Armed Forces), of which 2,600 officers, 900 senior officers, 28 colonels, 328 lieutenant colonels, 511 majors, 5.6 thousand warrant officers and midshipmen, 27 privates, sailors, sergeants and foremen.

In March 2015, the head of the Main Directorate of Personnel of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Colonel-General Viktor Goremykin, said in an interview with the publication "TVNZ" that in the ranks of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, 72 female officers filled commanding positions, including 10 senior leadership positions - three advisers to the minister, three department directors, the head of the inspectorate and two heads of departments. 1.3 thousand women served in the Airborne Forces. Of the almost 3,000 positions of civil servants, women accounted for about half.

Approximate number of female servicemen in the RF Armed Forces by years:

2011 - about 45 thousand,
2012 - almost 50 thousand,
2013 - more than 29 thousand,
2014 - more than 40 thousand,
2015 - about 35 thousand people

According to the Ministry of Defense, in 2016, only 5,000 women serve and work in the Pacific Fleet of the Russian Navy, of which about 1,000 serve as midshipmen, foremen and sailors, and more than 20 as officers.

In the Northern Fleet in 2016, there were more than 1.3 thousand female military personnel, of which 1 thousand were privates, sailors, sergeants and foremen, about 70 were officers. One woman with the rank of captain of the 2nd rank serves in the headquarters of the submarine forces of the Northern Fleet. The highest rank of lieutenant colonel of the medical service is held by 10 women - heads of departments and chief specialists of the Naval Clinical Hospital and Medical Service.

In 2014, Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Tatyana Shevtsova announced that by 2020 it is planned to bring the number of female soldiers and sergeants to 80,000 in the Russian Armed Forces.

Educational establishments

In 2008, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree according to which underage girls are allowed to study at the Nakhimov Naval, Suvorov military, military music schools, and cadet corps.
Since 2008, the Boarding School for Pupils of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has been operating in Moscow, in which the daughters of military personnel and orphans study.
Currently, at least 18 higher military educational institutions are training female military personnel, including the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School (since 2015). In total, about 700 female cadets are trained in the universities of the Ministry of Defense.

State awards

As of 2015, 950 female military personnel were awarded state awards in the Russian Federation, 566 of them were awarded for courage and courage in a combat situation.
The Order of Courage was awarded to 22 women, the Order of Military Merit to two, and the St. George Cross to four.

Competitions and achievements

At the international competition of military professional skills of military personnel of friendly armies "Warrior of the Commonwealth" there are nominations "Professional among women", "Athlete among women" (in 2016, Russian women won the championship in these nominations).
Also in 2016, the Strategic Missile Forces for the first time hosted the All-Russian competition of professional skills of female military personnel "Makeup under camouflage".

The question of whether a woman can serve in the armed forces or not has not been raised for a long time. Practice shows that the fair sex not only look great in uniform, but also cope well with the tasks.

To date, some countries have introduced mandatory conscription for women, among them - Israel, Taiwan, North Korea, Benin, Malaysia. In Israel, as you know, 30% of the military personnel are women. And for them there are no concessions other than service life. The men serve there for 36 months and the ladies for 21 months. Israel's policy is clear, the number of conscripts has been replenished with women, referring to wartime. But is it worth it in those countries where there are enough men for this profession? Indeed, in terms of their physical qualities, ladies will always be inferior to the stronger sex.

Consider this issue on the example of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. According to statistics, 10% of the personnel of the Russian Armed Forces are women. The government is not going to stop there, passing a law on the “voluntary conscription” of women.

The equalization of the rights and duties of men and women has practically reached its climax. Today, a woman in the Russian army can make a career by receiving "star" shoulder straps and officer ranks. But why does the army need a woman, because so many men are out of work?

In fact, unemployed men either do not want to serve, or are not qualified by education or health to do so. After all, women in the military occupy certain positions that are not related to physical skills and strength. Moreover, it is precisely because of the mindset and character that the representatives of the weaker sex cope much better with some military specialties. So the armed forces are even interested in them, because these are vital professions: doctors, signalmen, translators, cooks, economists and many others.

But in addition to the shortage of personnel, women in the Russian army are needed to demonstrate Russian democracy and freedom of choice. That is, despite physical differences, men and women have the same rights, and if a young girl wants to serve the Motherland, then she will be given the opportunity to do so.

Military women are no different from ordinary women, they also get married and have children. The personnel military policy does not put any restrictions in these aspects. Thus, the state receives citizens who have realized their careers and families, who will raise a patriotic generation.
Everything is clear with the interests of the state and the army. Russia, like all Western countries, supports democracy and gender equality, but does not demand the impossible from women. All standards are drawn up taking into account female physiology. Teachings and practice take place in milder conditions than for men.

At the same time, salaries do not differ. It is worth noting that the salaries of the military began to exceed almost one and a half times the salaries of a civilian in the same position. This is another incentive to increase the number of women in the army.

How to get into the army? Now there are two options:

emergency service. To do this, upon receipt of a summons from the military registration and enlistment office, it is necessary to write an application for voluntary service in the armed forces of the Russian Federation and undergo a medical examination;
contract service. It is necessary to apply to the military commissariat at the place of residence with an application for admission to contract service. The application will be considered within a month, enrollment is possible if there are vacancies. After approval, they also undergo a medical examination.

To carry out military service, to protect and defend the Motherland - it was and remains a priority for men. Although the government is taking all possible steps to equalize men and women in this matter. The beautiful half of humanity easily fit into the harsh army everyday life, but somehow quite feminine. It is unlikely that men will entrust significant and responsible military professions to women's hands.

Women in military service are an unusual phenomenon even today. Even more so in the old days. For the first time, women were involved in the service of the Russian army under Peter the Great in military hospitals, for household and sanitary work. This was recorded in the Charter of 1716 (ch. 34).

Since ancient times, women have stood in the ranks of the defenders of their Fatherland, but for this they had to hide their gender, dress in men's clothes, be called by a man's name and be on a par with men in battle. For example, in the Russo-Japanese War, the daughter of a soldier and the widow "Mikhail Nikolaevich", who put on trousers and boots, a Circassian coat and a hat, became a volunteer in the Cossack detachment. Knowing Chinese perfectly, she was of great use in intelligence, during interrogations, in negotiations with officials and suppliers. Three more women who served in the cavalry left their mark on history. These are the wives of the commander of the 22nd regiment Gromov, the officer of the horse-mountain battery Shchegolev, the caretaker of the divisional infirmary Makarov.

N. A. Durova.

The most famous female cavalryman Nadezhda Andreevna Durova. The daughter of a hussar captain, she was born in 1783 on a campaign, grew up and was brought up in a regiment to the sound of trumpets, the clatter of horses. Nadezhda grew up in love with military affairs and despised the female sex. She could not imagine life without a horse, a saber, and from childhood she dreamed of leaving for military service. Once, a Cossack regiment passed through the city where Nadezhda lived, and Durova, dressed in men's clothes and leaving her dress on the river bank (to create the appearance that she drowned), left with the Cossacks as a young man who wants to serve the Motherland in the military field.

In the 19th century, military service was very prestigious, and many young men dreamed of showing themselves in campaigns, battles, earning glory, honors, and reaching ranks. They were attracted by the brilliance and beauty of the uniform, the romance of camp life, the hussar dashing prowess. Therefore, young hotheads aspired to the army ranks.

Durova, who had heard about the favorable attitude of army commanders towards those who entered the army without permission even against the will of their parents, counted on a condescending attitude towards herself. Her hopes were justified. She quite easily entered the Horse-Polish Lancers Regiment as a private, calling herself a man's name.

Although Nadezhda rode beautifully, shot well, had military skills, she had difficulty in fighting, mastering a heavy pike, a saber. Despite the hardships of a camp life, the young girl not only learned to hold heavy weapons in her hands, calming the trembling from tension, but also skillfully mastered them, destroying enemies in battle with a saber, a spear, and even, boldly engaging in a fight with the enemy, saved the lives of her comrades. She became a model soldier, who was set as an example to others.

Durov received her baptism of fire in 1807 in the battle of Gutstadt, participated in the battles of Heilsberg, Friedland, where, as well as near Gutstadt, she saved a wounded comrade. In all battles, the young cavalryman showed fearlessness and courage.

Suffering from the thought that the father, whom she dearly loved, considers her daughter drowned, Nadezhda wrote him a letter, begging him to forgive and bless him to serve the Fatherland. The father told a relative about this, and the rumor that the girl was serving in the cavalry reached the king. Alexander the First, surprised by such an unusual circumstance, demanded her to him. At the audience, Durova opened up to the sovereign and asked to be allowed to wear a uniform, have weapons and serve the Fatherland in this form. The tsar left her in the army and, having awarded the insignia of the Military Order, money, ordered to be called by his name on the condition that Alexander Alexandrov did not tarnish his honor.

Durova was transferred to the best Mariupol hussar regiment. After serving for some time in it, she asked to be a uhlans, motivating her request by the fact that life in the hussars was beyond her means. According to another version, more romantic, the daughter of the commander fell in love with the brave cavalryman and demanded to marry her. Hussar Aleksandrov, having no desire to reveal his gender, transferred to another regiment.

Durova participated in the Patriotic War of 1812 in the battles near Smolensk, the Kolotsky Monastery, in the Battle of Borodino. Here she was wounded in the leg, shell-shocked and went to Sarapul for treatment. After recovering in May 1813, she was again in the army and again distinguished herself under the fortress of Modlin and the cities of Harburg and Hamburg. In 1816, having risen to the rank of staff captain, the Knight of St. George Nadezhda Andreevna Durova retired. Like all officers, she was given a pension. The last time she lived in Yelabuga, where she died in 1866.

It should be noted that Durova was not the first woman to devote her life to military affairs. In 1984, Nedelya wrote about Tatyana Markina, Durova's predecessor. A 20-year-old Don Cossack woman from the village of Nagaevskaya, leaving her clothes on the river bank, dressed in a man's dress, entered the infantry regiment in Novocherkassk as a soldier. Strong-willed, energetic, fighting, she rose to the rank of captain. But her brilliant military career was hindered by one circumstance - on the complaint of a colleague, she was threatened with a court. Captain Kurtochkin (as she was called) was forced to turn to the Empress. The astonished Catherine II demanded an investigation involving doctors. The captain of the female regiment was acquitted, but military service came to an end. Having received her resignation and pension, Tatyana returned to her village. Unfortunately, she did not leave notes about herself as Durova.

In a military uniform with a saber on a horse, another woman, Alexandra Tikhomirova, fought with enemies. Replacing her deceased brother, a guard officer very similar to her, she commanded a company. She served in the army for about 15 years. She died in 1807, only then her comrades and commanders learned that it was a woman.

There were only a few female warriors who fought in the ranks of the Russian army. But the patriotic impulse and ardent heart called many of them, if not with weapons in their hands, then with the warmth of their souls and compassion to participate in the defense of the Fatherland. As sisters of mercy, they arrived at the war, worked in hospitals.

For the first time, purposeful training of women to care for the sick and wounded began to be carried out by the Exaltation of the Cross Community of Sisters of Care for the Sick and Wounded Soldiers of Russia, established in September 1854 in St. Petersburg. Here the sisters of mercy were trained specifically to work in military hospitals both in peacetime and in wartime.

In the Crimean campaign of 1853-1856, 120 sisters of mercy of this community arrived at the theater of operations in November 1854 (17 sisters died in the line of duty, 4 were injured). Basically, they were representatives of the highest circles and the intelligentsia. Among them are E. Khitrovo, E. Bakunina, M. Kutuzova, V. Shchedrin and many others. Well-trained professionally, exceptionally conscientious, they worked under bullets, shelling, causing surprise and admiration among male doctors and the defenders of Sevastopol. During the days of the assault, the sisters did not rest for two or three days. Their endurance and dedication are worthy of worship. One of the best sisters of mercy Bakunin wrote to her sister: “If I told all the horrors, wounds and torments that I saw that night, you would not sleep for several nights.”

Female doctors were trained mainly abroad. But in 1872, the St. Petersburg women's medical courses were opened, where students received a higher medical education. In the Serbian-Turkish war of 1867, they already served as doctors in hospitals and infirmaries. Among the women doctors were V.M. Dmitreeva, M.A. Siebold, R.S. Svyatlovskaya. Students of women's medical courses S.I. Balbot, V.P. Matveeva worked in the volunteer sanitary detachments of "private assistance" in Serbia. 36 sisters arrived from the Moscow Alexander community, headed by Princess N.B. Shakhovskaya, who was awarded a medal on the St. George ribbon.

N.B. Shakhovskaya and E.G. Bushman. Token of the Exaltation of the Cross Community sisters of mercy of the Red Cross.

Officially, women received the right to be in the army in the war only in the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. Then about one and a half thousand sisters of mercy went to the front from the communities of the Red Cross and on their own.

Russian nurses at the front, photo, 1877.

Although in the middle of the 19th century there was an opinion that the presence of women in the war was not only shameful and useless, but also dangerous, women gradually gained the right to work as doctors on an equal footing with men through their selfless, ascetic work. They operated on their own, in no way inferior to men. This is evidenced by their activities, for example, in the 47th military temporary hospital. “The female doctors who were with him performed many operations, such as: Ms. Bantlet performed amputation of the thigh and exarticulation of all fingers, Solovyova - amputation of the thigh ... Matveeva - resection of the elbow, amputation of the lower leg, shoulder, Lisfranc operation, Ostrogradskaya - amputation of the lower leg " , - wrote a participant in those events P.A. Glinsky.

At the end of the war, Alexander II recognized the woman’s right to the title of doctor and awarded a special silver medal “For Courage” to six sisters of mercy, who distinguished themselves most in helping the wounded on the battlefield: Boye, Dukhonin, Olkhin, Polozova, Endelgardt, Yukhantseva.

Recognition and awards were given by inhuman labor, sometimes at the cost of life. A student of the St. Petersburg Women's Medical Courses, V.S., died of a typhoid epidemic. Nekrasova, sisters of mercy Baroness Yu.P. Vrevskaya, O.K. Myagkova, P.V. Mesterhazy-Selenken, M. A. Yachevskaya.

In letters from the front, diaries, memoirs, the sisters of mercy wrote about the situation on the battlefields, the atmosphere that prevailed in the troops, about their personal attitude to events, mood. The notes of sister of mercy Petrichenko are interesting. She wrote: “The entire area of the hill is literally covered with the wounded, sometimes lying motionless with faces distorted from flour, sometimes writhing in death throes; I had to maneuver, passing, so as not to hurt any of them; soul-rending groans were heard from everywhere.

... They worked all night, by the light of lanterns, moving from one wounded to another, not stopping for a minute, but what could this mean with such a mass of wounded. There were three of us, and at night four sisters of the Exaltation of the Cross community arrived, and only ... and the wounded kept coming ... You wash and bandage some terrible wound, and then next to you, all around with inflamed lips, they either ask to drink, then they suffer in agony ... Hands tremble, head spinning, and then the consciousness of his impotence, from the inability to help everyone in the heart, some kind of acute pain ... Many of the officers who came to us for half an hour found that to be on fire, i.e. in battle, incomparably easier ... "

The figures speak of the difficulties and titanic burdens of the sisters of mercy: in the battles on Shipka there were a huge number of wounded and sick, while only 4 sisters accounted for 3,000 wounded. Medicines, dressings were not enough. The sisters tore their dresses, underwear for bandages, gave away boots, remaining barefoot, food, spared nothing for the recovery of the sick and wounded. He cannot remain indifferent, for example, to the act of sister Lebedeva, who voluntarily allowed 18 pieces of skin to be cut out from herself to heal the wounds of General Komarov.

Insignia of the Red Cross, first and second class (female).

On February 19, 1878, the insignia of the Red Cross of the first and second degrees was established with the inscription "For the care of the wounded and sick soldiers" on the ribbon of the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky. It was written in his statute that persons granted the insignia of the Red Cross are allowed to depict him in coats of arms, if any, and in seals. Almost all sisters - participants in the Russian-Turkish war of 1877 - 1878 were awarded this badge.

According to Yu.N. Ivanova.