We would like to introduce you to a new fighter with the call sign “Merson,” who has joined the Solidarity Collectives. Merson’s story reminds us that urban defense is also part of feminist practice.

“I am a single mother of two children, an activist with 19 years of experience, and a feminist.

I work in the public sector — in an organisation that protects workers’ rights. Before the war, I participated in marches, protests, and Ukrainian revolutions.

 I have wanted to serve in the army since childhood. The model in which women do compulsory military service has always seemed appropriate to me. I have always wanted to be able to protect myself and my loved ones, to handle weapons, to survive in different conditions.

 With the start of full-scale war, my desire to mobilise only grew. But on 24 February, I was eight months pregnant, and then there was a long period of breastfeeding. And now, finally, when my children can spend more time without me, I have the opportunity to realise this idea and defend my own city.  In the Territorial Defence Forces, in the volunteer unit, being part of a mobile fire group suits me perfectly. During night shifts, I ‘hunt’ for Shahed drones, and in the morning I rush to take my children to school and kindergarten. I get a little sleep and then go back to work.”