Ukraine’s Defence Ministry has decided to have female soldiers march in higher heels alternatively of army boots at a parade next month to celebrate the country’s independence day.
The Defence Ministry of Ukraine has released photographs of female soldiers practising for the military parade which will be held on August 24. The soldiers have been reportedly education twice a day, for an typical of 4 hours each day, to master the methods.
However, the Defence Ministry’s choice has sparked controversy and criticism from nearby lawmakers.
Along with the images, the ministry stated the cadets had been from the Military Institute at the Taras Shevchenko National University in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv.
However, the post resulted in furious outrage on the web. Some commenters questioned the option of footwear and referred to as it “torture”. Politicians, too, slammed the plan, NBC News reported.
In a Facebook post, Elena Kondratyuk, the Vice-Speaker of the country’s Parliament, called the pictures ”ferocious trash”. She also referred to as on Defence Minister Andriy Taran to conduct an investigation, citing the constitution which guarantees equality for all.
Former Defence Minister Andriy Zagorodnyuk referred to as it “a step towards North Korea.”
Opposition member of parliament Iryna Gerashchenko said that the defence ministry’s decision was “sexism and not equality”. She added that she initially believed the photos of the females soldiers marching in army fatigue and heels was a hoax, BBC reported.
Nearly 57,000 females serve in the Ukrainian armed forces, CNN quoted Olga Stefanishina, vice prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, as saying in a Facebook post in Ukrainian.
But the Defence Ministry responded to the criticism in yet another Facebook post by sharing photos of female soldiers in other nations marching in parades though wearing heels.
This year will mark 30 years of Ukraine’s independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union.