War Meets Erotica as Ukrainian Edition of Playboy Sparks Global Debate with Feature on Female Veterans Bearing Battle Wounds
In a move that has shocked readers and divided public opinion, the Ukrainian edition of Playboy Magazine has released a controversial May issue titled “Scarred Beauty”, featuring injured female soldiers and war survivors posing semi-sensually with visible battle wounds and prosthetics.
The project showcases five Ukrainian women—including a former sniper who lost a leg to a landmine and a military captain with dual prosthetics—presented not as victims, but as symbols of strength, beauty, and resilience in the face of unimaginable trauma.
Playboy’s editorial team said the issue aims to “challenge outdated stereotypes” and redefine beauty through the lens of war and rehabilitation, pushing beyond the traditional objectification associated with the iconic brand.
“They look into the lens and the mirror to say, ‘I am here. I am beautiful and worthy of love,’” the magazine wrote. “This beauty is not for comparison. It is to inspire.”
Sensuality or Exploitation?
While the magazine insists its intentions are empowering, critics are questioning the medium—and the motive.
“No one can oppose honoring veterans,” wrote one analyst, “but is Playboy, a magazine historically tied to eroticism and male fantasy, truly the appropriate platform for portraying female amputees from an active war zone?”
Others are calling the campaign a jarring blend of trauma and titillation, arguing that the line between empowerment and exploitation has been dangerously blurred.
Featured Stories of Survival
The cover model, Anastasiia Savka, a former sniper wounded in Zaporozhie in 2023, reveals her prosthetic leg, highlighting the brutal cost of frontline combat. Another veteran, Captain Kristina Sanina, appears lifting her dress to reveal both of her prosthetic legs—lost during active duty.
Their stories are presented in a mix of essay and glamour photography, meant to draw attention not just to the war’s brutality, but to the strength required to reclaim identity, femininity, and self-worth in the wake of physical disfigurement.
Corporate and Military Collaboration Raises Eyebrows
Adding to the controversy is the involvement of First Ukrainian International Bank, a financial institution that helped sponsor the issue, promoting it as a mental health and resilience campaign for wounded veterans.
“We want to show through the example of our injured women that they need not only physical recovery, but also psychological adaptation and understanding from society,” said bank representative Ksenia Sikorska.
Global Reaction: Empathy Meets Outrage
Supporters say the magazine issue breaks powerful ground and gives wounded soldiers agency and visibility in a society where injury often equals invisibility. But detractors argue the same images could have been better placed in veterans’ publications, mental health journals, or documentaries—not in a magazine still synonymous with erotic fantasy.
As war drags on, and women take on increasing combat roles, the cultural fallout is only beginning to unfold.
