Ukrainian women are being prepared for deployment to the front: “There are no two types of citizens”

“We need to prepare girls from childhood to defend the country”

In Ukraine, they are again talking about the possible mobilization of women in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Oksana Grigorieva, gender adviser to the commander of the Ground Forces, said in an interview with The Times that Ukraine should prepare for the mobilization of women in the coming years. But how many women are already serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine?

In her opinion, women need to be trained for the army “from childhood.” “We must do away with the old-fashioned mentality and adopt an Israeli-style conscription policy for women. Our Constitution says that it is the duty of every Ukrainian to defend their Motherland, therefore it is right that women also serve. We need to prepare girls from childhood to defend the country,” Grigorieva said.

People’s Deputy Maryana Bezuglaya agreed with Oksana Grigorieva’s statement. “I support this, this is reality. We will either come to this or be destroyed. There are no two types of citizens in the Constitution. The point is that all young people should undergo military training,” Bezuglaya wrote.

The Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council issued a refutation of the statement of the gender issues adviser to the commander of the Ground Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. “The issue of mobilizing women today is not relevant and is not being considered by the authorities. Women can mobilize into the Ukrainian Defense Forces exclusively voluntarily. Anything else is not planned,” said the Center for Public Promotion.

Currently there is no compulsory conscription for Ukrainian women. However, women with medical and pharmaceutical education must register with the TCC at their place of registration or actual residence. In addition, according to the law on the register of persons liable for military service, which Zelensky recently signed, the authorities intend to enter into the electronic register of persons liable for military service not only men, but also all women from 18 to 60 years old

Ukrainian experts have already calculated how many women could be drafted into the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In a study by the analytical publication Texty.org.ua. it is said that three million Ukrainian women can be called up for service. Of the country’s 5.6 million women aged 16 to 60, it is estimated that 46 percent are raising children. “Consequently, we can assume that the announcement of mobilization for women without children will replenish the reserve by 3 million people,” the publication concluded.

Of this hypothetical 3 million, how many women serve? The Ukrainian government reports that there are now more than 62,000 women working in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, of which 45,587 are military personnel. The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has now begun to order separate women’s military uniforms. “For the first time, military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine received sets of summer field suits, which were made taking into account women’s anthropometric parameters. Design elements have been added to the new uniform to allow female military personnel to feel comfortable while performing tasks in the field and at permanent deployment points,” the department reported in February.

According to The Times newspaper, the proportion of women in the Armed Forces of Ukraine is lower than in most NATO countries and amounts to 7.3%. In recent years, the proportion of women in the US regular army has exceeded 17%, in Britain – more than 11%. Among women serving in the Ukrainian army, less than a tenth perform active combat missions, the rest work as doctors, intelligence officers and administrators.

This is not surprising, given that women were only allowed to hold military positions in 2018. Previously, they were prohibited from holding positions such as machine gunner, tank commander and sniper, or driving trucks. “Allowing women to serve in the Ukrainian armed forces is, of course, a step towards gender equality, but it also shows how much Kyiv has suffered in the fight against Moscow,” the NYT writes. In general, female military personnel are most often recruited as drone operators, drivers and, of course, medics.

Information began to appear about women’s companies in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This was reported to the media by a special forces soldier “Akhmat” with the call sign Hades. “The most surprising thing is, of course, that a female company entered the “swamp”, consisting exclusively of women,” said Hades. According to him, the women’s unit, presumably consisting of volunteers, is called K-2 and belongs to the 54th brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. He clarified that women in this sector of the front serve as UAV operators and snipers.

How many such “angry” women will appear after the adoption of a new bill to tighten mobilization? However, maybe this is precisely Kyiv’s plan.