In Ukraine, mobilization for women is not compulsory, regardless of their specialties. Currently, about 5,000 women are voluntarily serving in the military.
A number of Russian sources and social media users are spreading information about the alleged increased mobilization of women in Ukraine, primarily with chemical and biological education. The sources for this are the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic representatives and the Russian intelligence.
According to Russian ‘experts’, this indicates that Ukraine is preparing to use biological or chemical weapons.
The narrative about Ukraine’s use of biological weapons on the battlefield was repeatedly dispelled by the Kremlin, but never confirmed. For example, StopFake refuted the fakes about the Pentagon allegedly creating a drone for distributing biological weapons (infected mosquitoes), about Ukrainian drones equipped for spraying poisonous substances, and about Ukraine allegedly distributing fake currency infected with tuberculosis in the occupied Donbas.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry refuted the statement about mandatory mobilization of women and especially that any intentional mobilization of female biologists and doctors is being carried out.
Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar emphasized that women are not being mobilized in the country.
‘Women are not being mobilized. Now there are changes being carried out in the accounting system. Until 2026, even Ukrainian women who have a medical specialty — the only ones who can be mobilized — will not have to register. For other occupations, it is only voluntary,’ Malyar explained.
In October 2022, a law on the procedure for voluntary enlisting women in the military was adopted. The document was also signed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyi. According to the law, women who are fit for military service due to their health and age and who have received a relevant level of education in a medical or pharmaceutical field can be signed up for the military conscripts register. The rest can sign up voluntarily.
As noted by the Defense Ministry, such changes were carried out primarily to simplify the accounting system and were developed by the General Staff even before Russia’s full-scale invasion into Ukraine.
Malyar also noted that Russian propaganda repeatedly yet unsuccessfully exploits the topic of mobilization and, in particular, the mobilization of women in Ukraine.
Previously, StopFake refuted the claim that Ukraine allegedly dug a ditch near the Moldova border to prevent men from fleeing mobilization.
