(Dan Tri) – Ukraine’s military advisor on gender issues said that applying an Israeli-style female conscription policy is necessary to solve the shortage of forces on the front line.
Female Ukrainian soldier (Photo: Getty).
Ukraine’s military adviser on gender issues, Oksana Grigorieva, called on the country to get rid of `old ways of thinking` and implement true equality in the armed forces.
Ukraine is reforming its military service system, with lawmakers debating amendments to address the problem of a shortage of forces on the front lines of the more than two-year war of attrition with Russia.
Ukraine currently has no plans to call up women to the army, but this idea has been raised before.
Ms. Grigorieva told British newspaper The Times on April 10: `Our Constitution stipulates that it is the duty of every Ukrainian to defend their homeland, so it is right for women to serve in the army.`
She said that Russia `will not simply disappear, so like Israel, Ukraine must prepare for this and that means training both men and women to be ready for combat`.
Ukraine does not require women to join the army, but since last year, women with degrees in medicine or pharmacy have had to register with the local army recruitment office.
According to government figures, there are now 65,000 women serving in Ukraine’s armed forces, an increase of about 40% since 2021, the year before the conflict with Russia broke out.
The Ukrainian armed forces continue to face a shortage of manpower on the battlefield.
Ms. Grigorieva argued that to encourage more female recruits to voluntarily join the army, changes in `old ways of thinking` should be made from a young age.
`That must change. Both physically and psychologically, we need to prepare girls from an early age to have the spirit to protect the country,` she affirmed.
Ukraine announced a general mobilization order immediately after the start of the conflict with Russia in February 2022.
President Volodymyr Zelensky on April 2 signed a law to reduce the age of mobilization to participate in combat from 27 to 25, a move that will help Kiev have more strength in resources in the war that has lasted more than 25 months with Russia.
In addition to the law lowering the mobilization age, Mr. Zelensky on April 2 also signed a second law requiring men exempt from military service for health reasons to undergo an additional medical evaluation.
He also signed a law aimed at creating an online database of people eligible for military service.
In recent times, Ukraine’s military recruitment campaign has encountered a number of controversies and draft evasion.
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