Ukraine’s defense ministry is facing backlash for making its female cadets march in high heels at a parade to mark the 30th anniversary of independence from the Soviet Union on August 24.
Photos published by the ministry on Facebook shows the women from the Military Institute at the Taras Shevchenko National University in the country’s capital, Kyiv, marching in high heels.
As per reports, the cadets have been practicing twice daily, for an average of four hours a day, the ministry said in a social media post.
Politicians of the country and social media users criticised the plan but the country’s ministry of defence has defended its decision.
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Ivanna Medvid, a cadet at the Military Institute of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, has been training for more than a month. “Today, for the first time, training takes place in high-heeled shoes,” she told Army Inform. “It’s a little harder than in boots, but we try.”
Elena Kondratyuk, deputy chairman of the Ukrainian parliament joined other members of to call on Defence Minister Andrei Taran to reconsider the decision.
According to CNN, following the criticism, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence said on Saturday that it will issue “new, improved footwear” for female soldiers.
