It Is Not True that All Ukrainian Women from 18 to 60 Years of Age Will be Mobilized in the War

Photo: president.gov.ua

The post is sharing untrue information that Ukrainian women will be mobilized in the Army. It refers to a recent legal provision that mandates women with medical or pharmaceutical backgrounds to register for military service starting from 1st October, but unlike men aged 18 – 60, unless they are mobilized, they would not be restricted from leaving Ukraine. This registration of Ukrainian women with a specific medical vocation (but not all) is quite different than mobilization or conscription

A post on the social network Facebook (screenshot here) claims that all Ukrainian women in the age range 18 – 60 will be mobilized, or conscripted, in the Army. This is not true.

Such a shame
All Ukrainian women aged 18 to 60 years will now have the right to register in the Army.
Conscription has started because an enormous number of Ukrainians have died in the useless war against Russia, states the post.

The post which is the subject of this fact-check is sharing untrue information that Ukrainian women will be mobilized in the Army. According to the post, this is done due to the large number of Ukrainians killed in the war. For that reason, the post starts with “Such a shame”.

This, however, is not true. It is not true that all Ukrainian women aged 18 to 60 will be mobilized, i.e., its is not about the conscription of all Ukrainian women.

It refers to a recent legal provision that mandates women with medical or pharmaceutical backgrounds to register for military service starting from 1st October, but – unlike men in the age range 18 – 60 – unless they are mobilized, they would not be restricted from leaving Ukraine.

This was stressed by Fedir Vinislavskyi – a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence – who was interviewed by RBC – Ukraine.

As for the restriction on travel abroad for conscripted women, such a restriction will apply exclusively to women who have already been mobilized, said Venislavskyi, adding that even women who are now in military uniform aren’t under the travel ban (like men) which was instituted on 24 February 2022, the day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

However, as elaborated by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, this is not mobilization, but a step towards summing up data on the medical staff reserve. It refers to doctors, nurses, midwives, dentists and pharmacists. The specialty will be taken into account both according to the diploma and the actual place of work. According to the Decree, women have to come and register to summarize data on the available reserve of medical professionals. However, as explained by the Armed Forces, in the future, women may be called up for military service or engaged to perform work to ensure the defense of the state.

This registration of Ukrainian women with specific medical professions (not all) is quite different to mobilization or conscription, terms mentioned in the post that have different meanings.

Mobilization is the act of assembling Reserve Forces for active duty in times of war or national emergency. Recruitment refers to the activity of attracting people and their selection for military training and employment and that happens when the country is not in a state of war.

The participation of women in the war in Ukraine is voluntarily – those who want to can participate. According to the latest data, 40,000 women serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including in combat roles. Furthermore, 8,000 women hold officer positions, and 5,000 serve on the front line. In the near future, a separate combat unit may be created that will consist exclusively of women.

Another kind of manipulation can be noted in the post as well, that being the claim that ”An enormous number of Ukrainians have died in the useless war against Russia”. Ukrainians are not dying in the war against Russia, because they did not attack Russia, but they are defending themselves from the Russian attack of their territory. In February 2022, a sovereign European country – for the first time in many years – attacked another sovereign European country. Ukraine is an independent, sovereign, and democratic country that was attacked within its frontiers by foreign armed forces and was forced into defending itself.

According to all of the noted facts, we assess as untrue the claim that all Ukrainian women aged 18 to 60 will be conscripted or mobilized.

All comments and remarks regarding this and other Vistinomer articles, correction and clarification requests as well as suggestions for fact-checking politicians’ statements and political parties’ promises can be submitted by using this form