Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence has conscripted women who work in particular fields to join its war efforts as the nation’s war against Russia continues. .The new law expanding the nation’s defence pool went into effect October 1. .With Russian troops on Ukraine's border since February 2022, the nation now requires working-age women with an education to join the fight. .In December, the Ministry of Defence released a list of professions from which women can be mobilized for potential combat. .The list includes the fields of publishing and printing, programmers, doctors, lawyers, journalists, musicians, social workers, accountants and employees of restaurants and hotels. .Yuriy Hryva, head of territorial recruitment center legal group, said healthy women under 60 in a specialty profession can expect conscription. .“In the conditions of the full-scale war of Russia against Ukraine, every conscious citizen who is subject to military registration must appear at the territorial center as soon as possible,” Hryva said. .“This means that a woman becomes a conscript and is in the reserve of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, or other military formations,” Ukraine’s government website reads. .“According to the Law, women who are fit for health and age, with a related relevant military accounting specialty/profession cannot refuse to register for military service,” it says. . Legislation of UkraineLegislation of Ukraine .Women who are mothers of children younger than 18 years of age are exempt, as are women with health conditions. .Women conscripted to the military are prohibited from going abroad. .Women who do not comply will be fined “for violating military rules by conscripts,” the website states..“Evasion of a conscript from military registration after a warning issued by the head of a territorial centre is a violation of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and is punishable by a fine of up to 8,500 hryvnias or correctional labor for up to one year.”.Women enrolling in Ukraine’s military is not a new phenomenon (they could enlist voluntarily since 1993) requiring them to register for the draft is new..“More than 31,000 women were serving in Ukraine’s Armed Forces” in 2020, Security Women said, making up 15.6% of the military force. .Now in 2023, enlisting in the army is no longer optional for women. .“This sends a powerful signal to Moscow Ukrainians are ready to resist,” said Oleksandra Ustinova, a member of Ukraine’s national parliament.
