Ukraine’s ex-top general teases drafting women

Kiev could draft Ukraine’s women in order to “save Europe,” Valery Zaluzhny says

Ukraine could end up drafting women should the need to “save Europe from war” arise, the country’s former top general and incumbent envoy to the UK Valery Zaluzhny has suggested.

Zaluzhny made the remarks on Thursday when he was a guest at a talk presented by the think tank Chatham House.

“If it is necessary to call up women to save Europe from war, then, probably, we will do it,” he said. While it was “necessary to prevent war in Europe,” that goal should be preferably reached through other means rather than by “conscripting Ukrainian women,” he added.

Kiev has long mulled mass-conscription of women to fill the dwindling ranks of the military as well as to somewhat alleviate the toll that conscription has taken on the country’s workforce.

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Back in June, for instance, Deputy PM Irina Vereshchuk suggested women could assume the men’s role in the Ukrainian military mobilization system itself, claiming the female population was “a great pool of personnel for the system of conscription centers, including managerial positions.”

“By boosting the enrollment of women to work in conscription, men could be freed up for combat units,” she stated.

In July, Kiev first drafted female convicts who’d expressed the desire to enlist in exchange for parole. The Justice Ministry lauded the milestone, stating the legislation on the mobilization of convicts provides an “opportunity” not only for men but for women as well.

Ukraine has been struggling to replenish its military ranks amid heavy losses in the conflict with Russia, and widespread draft dodging. This spring, Kiev lowered the draft age from 27 to 25 and significantly tightened the mobilization rules. Among other things, potential recruits are required to report to conscription offices for “data validation,” with such checks often resulting in people getting immediately drafted.

In the past few months, multiple Ukrainian public figures and officials alike suggested the draft age should be lowered even further.