Forced recruitment?
One internet user repeated on her Facebook page the lies spread by Russian propaganda, claiming that forced recruitment of women into the Ukrainian armed forces has begun in the Kharkiv region.
“Women may be called for a ‘conversation’ and offered a choice between criminal prosecution or signing a contract.
For example, they may be seduced with drugs and then called for a conversation: either you go to prison or you sign a contract, said a local resident.
Some women, for example, are denied disability and lose social benefits to pressure them into joining the Ukrainian armed forces,” she said.
Similar Russian propaganda stories have been repeated since the start of the war in Ukraine. 15min has debunked several of them.
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It was also previously reported that children were planned to be mobilized in Ukraine, but that was also false.
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The propaganda is betrayed by the fact that the story provides almost no details, relies on a single anonymous “local resident,” and does not cite any Ukrainian institutions. Moreover, the information was spread in Kremlin propaganda media.
Ukraine denied the fake news
The Ukrainian Center for Combating Disinformation responded to these manipulations. It noted that recently this narrative has intensified in Russian propaganda.
According to the center, hostile sources spread lies claiming that cases have been recorded in the Kharkiv region where women are allegedly forced to serve in the Ukrainian armed forces. These reports rely on an alleged anonymous resident of the Kharkiv region and spread false information. Claims are made that women are forced to sign contracts under threat of fabricated criminal cases, deprivation of social benefits, etc.
According to the center, these “claims are completely fabricated. The conscription of women into military service in Ukraine is carried out only on a voluntary basis. There are no coercive measures aimed at attracting women to military service. Also, no decisions or draft laws on mandatory mobilization of women have been adopted.”
“With such claims, Russian propaganda seeks to intimidate residents of frontline zones and discredit Ukraine’s defense forces and law enforcement agencies,” the center emphasized.
What the laws provide
The law regulating military service provides that women in Ukraine can register for service voluntarily. Women with medical and pharmaceutical education must register for military service, but they can also be mobilized only voluntarily.
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The Kharkiv Territorial Conscription Registration Center emphasizes that the registration of women for military service is not the mobilization of female medics, but only the collection of data about the reserve of medical specialists in the country. Women registered in the army can be called up for military service or involved in work to ensure state defense during wartime on a voluntary basis.
The Verkhovna Rada in 2024 adopted for consideration draft law No. 12076, which includes a provision allowing women who meet health and age requirements to register for military service as conscripts and complete basic training.
This draft caused quite a bit of discussion and Russian propagandists’ fake news, but it does not mean universal mobilization of women in Ukraine.
It provides that women who express a desire to perform compulsory military service are, at their own request, included in the register of conscripts.
After completing basic military service, women, again at their own request, are included in the list of conscripts and may be mobilized.
What triggered the fake news?
As noted by the portal “VoxUkraine”, recently in the Kharkiv region there were widespread reports of cases where Ukrainian women were mistakenly included in the conscription register. However, this was neither forced mobilization of women nor recruitment.
In April, 32 cases were recorded at the Kharkiv conscription center where women were mistakenly included in the military register or given “wanted person” status. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense explained the error as technical system malfunctions following changes in legislation. Women’s names were removed from the lists.
These incidents prompted pro-Russian channels and media to create a wave of manipulation and portray this as forced mobilization of women.
Both the Ukrainian Ground Forces and the Verkhovna Rada confirmed that they are not creating mechanisms for mobilizing women.
The Ground Forces, after the reaction to the system error, emphasized that no changes have been made in Ukrainian legislation regulating this process. Women can join the Ukrainian armed forces only voluntarily, and only citizens with medical and pharmaceutical education should be included in the military register.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky previously stated that he would not sign a law on women’s mobilization.
Oleksandr Fediienko, a member of the “Servant of the People” party, also noted that forced mobilization of women in Ukraine is not planned and is impossible under current legislation.
15min verdict: false. Women are not being recruited through intimidation or pressure in the Kharkiv region or anywhere else in Ukraine. The country’s laws provide that women can serve voluntarily. Reports that citizens were pressured to join the forces are fabricated lies of Russian propaganda.
The publication was prepared by 15min in cooperation with Meta, aiming to stop the spread of misleading news on social media. More about the program and its rules – here.
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