Gay Ukrainian soldiers believe war with Russia is changing attitudes at home

Boris: 'We fight for freedom, for democratic values, for European values'

When Boris met Valentin on Tinder, he knew their first date would be extraordinary.

It was only a few weeks after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and the couple met at a coffee shop in Kiev, where the 27-year-old the man was drafted into the army when the war started.

“I really liked him, but the situation was strange, because it was the beginning of the war. I never would have thought that a war could look like this — meeting a guy from Tinder in a coffee shop.

This week, Estonia became the first of the former parts of the Soviet Union to legalize same-sex marriage. Prime Minister Kaya Kallas said the decision «provides something important for many.»

First gay Ukrainian soldiers hope Ukraine will be next and acknowledge the wartime contributions of its LGBT soldiers. .

According to him, the number of LGBT soldiers openly fighting for Ukraine, combined with the perception of homophobia as a “traditional Russian value”, has led to greater acceptance of same-sex relationships in Ukrainian society.

A draft law on civil unions that would legalize same-sex partnerships , was submitted to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, but the war again brought these issues to the fore.

Alina: 'Since the war started, it doesn't matter who is gay and who is lesbian'

Alina Sarnatskaya, a 36-year-old soldier fighting in the Donbas, said that her girlfriend would not be able to find out what happened to her if she died or was wounded in battle.

“If I died in the war,” she told The Sunday Telegraph, her partner will not be able to “get any information about me because she is not my wife.”

The law change will also allow same-sex couples to make medical decisions, bury their loved ones according to their wishes, and receive support from the state.

She said current laws mean her partner is «sitting at home alone, just waiting, knowing that I am in a battalion in the Donbass. It's horrible. It's so terrible.”

Recognition of these partnerships is “more important than ever before,” Boris said. “We are fighting for freedom, for democratic values, for European values.”

Fifty thousand LGBT soldiers. An account that publishes photographs of gay and lesbian soldiers puts the figure at around 50,000.

From Alina's point of view, the war has accelerated positive changes in Ukrainian attitudes towards openly gay and lesbian soldiers.

«When you evacuate someone as a medic and you're gay, people don't ask you to stop and wait for another medic,» she said. «Since the war started, it doesn't matter who is gay and who is lesbian — you have to live.»

«Soldiers are family,» she adds. «You can't be in a family with other people and not tell them about your partner or yourself.»