“As of October 2023, there were almost 43 thousand female servicemen in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Ukraine has one of the highest rates of women in the armed forces among the armies of the world, including NATO armies. In the past, women primarily served in auxiliary positions such as doctors, signalmen, or cooks. However, with the onset of full-scale hostilities in February 2022, more and more women have taken on combat roles such as driving combat vehicles, operating grenade launchers, machine guns, snipers, and drones. Many women also serve as commanders of combat vehicles, units, and reconnaissance groups. Lieutenant General Serhiy Naiev, the Commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, emphasizes, “What unites them all is that they are true Ukrainian women who could not stay at home when their Motherland cried out for help to the world. We have noticed and felt how our women have toughened and transformed during a year and a half of large-scale invasion, surpassing, in my opinion, the legendary Amazons.””

ICM continues to announce new models despite the ongoing Russian initiated war in Ukraine. While most subjects released by ICM are welcome, the current conflict subjects are even more relevant and timely. This Servicewomen of the Armed Forces of the Ukraine is no exception.

This ICM kit has the ubiquitous colorful box art lid and cover of the typical sturdy ICM box, there is a reinforced white inner box that does a good job of protecting the single sprue containing the four figures with wire stock AK rifles, two of the same sprues (with two military transport boxes, two drones), along with an advertisement folder for ICM acrylic paints.

There are four modern Ukrainian female soldiers in different poses (from the box art, left to right):

• Servicewoman holding a drone
• Servicewoman sitting, controlling a drone
• Servicewoman holding a puppy/small dog
• Servicewoman taking a selfie

All four soldiers are wearing body armor with modular pouches for magazines, grenades, etc. in Ukrainian pixel camouflage uniform pants with t-shirts (no uniform jackets). The two servicewomen holding the dog and taking a selfie do not have headgear. The other two servicewomen have the option of ballistic helmets or soft covers. A great feature is that the servicewomen have hair buns and ponytails as options (with a little work, any head can work on any figure).

While the instructions call out where the various gear are applied, you can mix and match as you like, as soldiers in most militaries do. ICM has weapon slings molded onto the figure, so attachment points are obvious, but there is nothing hard about scraping them away and adding slings to fit your style. Unlike previous Ukrainian figure kits, there is not a plethora of options for weapons.

The figures build up quickly and easily with only a little filler required (but the few gaps could be a result of my skillset).There are only a few changes I would incorporate in the instructions. First, multiple views (or at least front and back) of each figure would be beneficial. Second, a callout for the equipment; while the gear is detailed and interchangeable, it would be nice to know the nomenclature.

Assembly does not take long, and once complete, there were two heads with head gear to be used as spares. As far as I could determine, the parts belonged to the following figures, based on their sprue location:

• Servicewoman holding a drone: Ballistic helmet option (Part Nos. A1-26 with face A1-28 or A1-29 (has chin strap molded), and bun A1-20 or A1-21); patrol cap option (Part Nos. A1-25, face A1-28 or A1-29, and bun A1-21 or A1-20)
• Servicewoman sitting, controlling a drone: Ballistic helmet option (Part Nos. A1-12 with face A1-13 or A1-9 (has chin strap molded), and ponytail A1-8 or A1-11); patrol cap option (Part Nos. A1-10, face A1-9 or A1-13, and ponytail A1-8 or A1-11), A1-5 (small pouch)
• Servicewoman holding a puppy/small dog: Parts Nos. A2-8 (pouch) fits on left side
• Servicewoman taking a selfie: Parts Nos. A2-16 (small pouch), A2-21 (large pouch)

The B Sprues (2) provides two drones, two military transport cases, two handheld drone controllers and four wire stock AK rifles. Part A2-20 is a large backpack that has fine detail on all sides and was meant to be displayed separately, as shown on the box art.

The figures were assembled straight out of the box, primed and painted as displayed on the box art. As the bodies are multi-piece affairs, with separate arms, legs, head and headgear, these figures really stand out.

These figures look the part and can easily be mixed/interchanged/incorporated with both of ICMs previous Ukrainian soldier series:

• Kit No. 35752 Special Operations Forces
• Kit No. 35753 Sappers
• Kit No. 35754 Air Assault Troops

They can be put together with a vehicle, vignette, or diorama for the current Ukrainian War, or another Eastern European military environment. The only real shortcomings are the lack of combat jackets, extra ballistic helmets (easily sourced) and a figure holding a weapon (rather than taking a selfie) to place these figures in the front line. With the proper references, these figures could be modified for USMC (or Navy, based on the headgear), or US military with some spare parts.

This is another highly detailed Ukrainian figure kit and I had a lot of fun building this gem from ICM. The possibilities are only limited by imagination and the poses, gear, and weapons makes this a very diverse set.

Slava Ukraini!

Profuse thanks to ICM and IPMS/USA for providing the review sample.