Gender-Sensitive Language in the Armed Forces of Ukraine: Implementing MoD Order No. 236 During Active Conflict

Ukraine is simultaneously constructing a comprehensive gender policy framework and fighting Europe’s largest war since 1945, with approximately 68,000 women serving in its Armed Forces. This paper examines the implementation of gender-sensitive language standards, centring on Ministry of Defence Order No. 236 (April 2024)—the first directive mandating nondiscriminatory communication across the Ukrainian military. Through normative-legal document analysis and comparative NATO assessment, the study traces the policy chain from UNSCR 1325 to unit-level practice, identifying a persistent implementation deficit: enforcement depends on commanders’ discretion, complaint mechanisms remain underdeveloped, and gender-sensitive communication is absent from military ethical codes. War operates as a double-edged catalyst—accelerating gender integration while providing cover for deprioritising reform. The analysis reveals bidirectional Ukraine–NATO knowledge transfer and offers the first English-language analysis of Order No. 236, advancing implementation theory by showing how conflict compresses and accelerates the trajectory of gender-sensitive communication reform.