Ukraine's Ministry of Defence has defended its decision to train female soldiers to march in high heels, following an outcry from local lawmakers.
Women from the Ukrainian armed forces will march in a parade to mark the 30th anniversary of independence from the Soviet Union on August 24, according to a statement from Army Inform, the defence ministry's official news agency, published on Thursday.
They have been training twice a day to master the steps and are progressing well, Major Eugene Balabushka told Army Inform. Major Balabushka confirmed the plan to wear high heels during the parade.
Ivanna Medvid, a cadet at the Military Institute of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kiev, 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."
However, the decision to march in high heels angered a number of lawmakers after local media picked up images published by the defence ministry.
Elena Kondratyuk, deputy chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament, joined members of Parliament from the Equal Opportunities cross-party group to call on Defence Minister Andrei Taran to reevaluate the decision to make female soldiers wear heels while marching.
Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olga Stefanishina, Social Policy Minister Marina Lazebnaya, Veterans' Affairs Minister Yulia Laputina and government envoy for gender policy Yekaterina Levchenko, signed a joint statement criticising the decision.
READ MORE: MH17 trial judges to hear evidence against accused
"Shoes with heels are incompatible with the combat capability of soldiers, and a 'Prussian' step on a parade in such shoes is a deliberate harm to the health of soldiers," reads the statement, posted on Ms Stefanishina's Facebook page on Friday.
There are 57,000 women serving in the Ukrainian armed forces, according to the post, and the country is introducing NATO standards, under which the principle of equality of rights and obligations of servicemen, regardless of gender, applies unconditionally.
In response to the criticism, the defence ministry uploaded a series of pictures to Facebook of female soldiers from other armies wearing high heels.
But Ms Stefanishina and the co-signatories of her statement pointed out that while the armies of some NATO member countries issue high heels to women as part of their dress uniform, they are not worn while marching in parades.
The officials called on the ministry to replace the high-heeled shoes, appoint a gender adviser and carry out a survey of women in the security and defence sector to find out how they feel about working conditions, including their uniforms.
Following the criticism, Ukraine's Ministry of Defence said on Saturday it would issue "new, improved footwear" for female soldiers.
Defence Minister Andrei Taran said he had ordered his deputies to look into new footwear, which would be "ergonomic and made in the shortest possible time."
However, it is not clear exactly when the new footwear will be available.
The decision came after Mr Taran met with female cadets and listened to their proposals, according to Saturday's statement.
