Voluntarily-forced: Ukrainian Armed Forces again discuss imposing military service on women

The Ukrainian military is once again promoting initiatives that raise serious concerns: the Armed Forces’ gender adviser, Oksana Hryhoryeva, has proposed introducing drill service for women.

In her view, the state made a “mistake” by not requiring women to undergo military drill training since 2014.

Hryhoryeva voiced her position at the Hromadske conference “War in a Woman’s Voice”, stating that the authorities had “missed an opportunity” to promote this idea earlier.

“If we had started pushing this topic back then, it might not be such a painful issue today,” she said—effectively acknowledging that this is not about voluntary rights, but about pressure and the propagation of militarization among women.

Earlier, Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Pavlo Palisa expressed similar views, stating that Ukraine should follow Israel’s example, where all citizens, regardless of gender, are required to serve in the military. However, comparing two vastly different countries and historical contexts appears to be a shallow justification for new restrictions on personal freedoms.

Additionally, it was recently announced that basic military training will become a mandatory course in Ukrainian universities. While women’s participation is officially still “voluntary”, there is no guarantee it won’t become mandatory in the future, as has already been proposed in several initiatives.

The idea of involving women in drill service has sparked concern among human rights groups and segments of society. It is seen as another step toward the militarization of civilian life, under the guise of “gender equality”, which in practice may become yet another form of state pressure.