Fictitious mobilization of women in Ukraine - Russian disinformation and its effects

Fictitious mobilization

The first mass fake news about the complete mobilization of women into the Ukrainian army appeared in June 2022, three months after the outbreak of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The propaganda then claimed that it was supposedly related to the losses on the Ukrainian front. Now the Center for Countering Disinformation says this type of rhetoric appears almost every week. Additionally, in September, information was spread on the Internet that the European Union was putting pressure on Ukraine to mobilize women to fill staff shortages. None of this is true. CPD learned that Russian intelligence was behind the spread of similar disinformation.

Women's service is voluntary and contractual

Currently, there is no law in Ukraine regarding the compulsory mobilization of women. They can volunteer for service and under contracts. From October 2023, women aged 18 to 60 with medical or pharmaceutical education are obliged to register in the army, but entry in the register does not necessarily mean conscription. Mandatory mobilization in Ukraine applies only to men aged 25 to 60.

Another example of disinformation was a poster signed by the Ukrainian Armed Forces generated by artificial intelligence, which was distributed on anonymous channels in the Telegram application. It presented alleged consultations with women and the slogan: "Motherhood is not the only way to a woman's self-fulfillment." In recent days, photos of alleged billboards from Lutsk have appeared online, encouraging housewives to join the army and become drone operators.

From a woman - a victim of war to a woman - a threat

Due to the growing hate and disinformation, Ukrainian women in Poland, as they admit, are less active on social media and avoid their native language in public space. Political scientist from the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, prof. Agnieszka Demczuk pointed out the evolution of the image of women refugees from Ukraine, from an ignored woman-victim of war to a woman-threat. The goal of such propaganda is one: to arouse resentment towards Ukraine and discourage aid.

Prof. Demczyk described that in the first months of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, "we most often talked about refugees from Ukraine, even though forced migration was clearly feminized." She cited data from the National Bank of Poland report from 2023, which stated that women accounted for 78%. among adult war refugees. At the same time, she pointed out that "initially, false narratives against Ukrainian women were ignored, but over time they gained momentum, new connotations and leading themes, and then created enemies out of refugee women."

The myth about Ukrainian women taking their husbands away from Polish women

Prof. Agnieszka Demczuk said that the myth about Ukrainian women taking their husbands away from Polish women was one of the most popular on social media because it goes directly to the emotional zone.

Manipulated statistics also appeared online showing an alleged increase in the number of children born to Ukrainian women in relationships with Poles. These false data were corrected by the fact checking organization Demagogue. All this fits into a broader, harmful myth that Ukrainians live only at the expense of Poles, taking advantage of social amenities, she emphasized.

We seem to know, but we fall for it

Disinformation is one of the most important, dangerous, cheapest and most effective tools of hybrid warfare. It is dangerous because it is much more difficult to expose it than lies or fake news. This is not completely false or misleading information, but something that is very probable, and most often the starting point for a false image is a real event. These are manipulated or out-of-context content that actually reverses the point of view.