Ukrainian lawmaker says mass mobilization of women into army is 'a matter of time'

MOSCOW, September 3. /TASS/. A Ukrainian lawmaker says that a mass mobilization of women into the Ukrainian army is "a matter of time."

"Can or must women serve in the army on a large scale? It’s a matter of time," Maryana Bezuglaya, a member of the Verkhovna Rada, or Ukraine’s parliament, wrote on her Telegram channel.

Ukraine’s former Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov on August 20 called for the mobilization of women. His former deputy, Anna Molyar, also suggested that women could be forcibly mobilized into the army, if the General Staff requests. The idea was supported by former US Special Presidential Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg on August 24.

General mobilization was announced in Ukraine in February 2022 and has been extended several times since. Initially, men aged 27 to 60 were subject to conscription, but in April 2024, the mobilization age was lowered to 25. On May 18 of the same year, a law toughening mobilization requirements came into force. The authorities are doing everything possible so that draft-age men cannot evade military service. Videos of forcible mobilization and clashes with draft officers are regularly surfacing on Ukrainian social networks. Amid the understaffing problems in the Ukrainian army, territorial recruitment officers organize man-hunting raids in public places, seizing draft-age men by force. Such incidents often result in human deaths. However, even that's not enough to make up for Ukraine's shortfall of troops. The number of desertions and unauthorized abandonment of military units is constantly growing. From time to time, the country raises the topics of mobilizing women and lowering the mobilization age.