Mariana, 29, a member of the border patrol, Mariupol, East Ukraine. 9 September 2016. Mariana has been in the army for five years, and has been in the ATO (anti-terrorist operations, the front line region of the war) zone for six months. According to the Ministry of Defense in Ukraine, 17,000 women are currently in the armed forces, as well as 33,000 women working as civil servants, and an uncountable number of those who are part of volunteer political groups such as Right Sector.