Zelensky responded to petition requiring to cancel military registration for women

Ukrinform

All Ukrainians, men and women, are equal before the law and there can be no privileges or restrictions based on gender, as the president Volodymyr Zelensky replied to the the electronic petition №22 / 130110-ep requiring to cancel military registration for women in Ukraine, as this is reported on the website of the head of state.

Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the Minister of Defense Oleksiy Reznikov regarding the reduction of the list of specialties and professions, according to which women are called-up for military registration in view of the real needs of the state defense.

This is stated in Zelensky's response to the electronic petition №22 / 130110-ep, which was posted on December 23, 2021 on the website of the President Yana Rashevchenko. The appeal was supported by more than 37,000 citizens.

The President noted that the protection of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state is a matter for all Ukrainians, citizens have equal constitutional rights and freedoms and are equal before the law and there can be no privileges or restrictions based on gender.

He also added that women who have a specialty or profession defined in the list approved by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and are fit for military service due to health and age, are to be registered for military service.

At the same time, the head of state noted that the public response to the submitted electronic petition was caused not so much by the norms of the Constitution and legislation of Ukraine as by their bad implementation, namely by “badly grounded and so excessively large list of qualifications and professions, according to which the women are called-up for military registration, as well as the lack of a clearly defined procedure for registering them ”.

“I addressed the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov with a request to immediately and comprehensively address the issue raised in the petition, paying special attention to resolving, in particular, the following issues: substantial clarification (reduction) of the list of qualifications and / or professions related to military accounting qualification, according to which women are taken for military registration of conscripts, given the real needs of state defense; introduction of modern digital technologies in the procedures of military registration in order to avoid the mandatory personal presence of women during registration; settling the issue of the procedure for passing a medical examination during the registration of women, ”the head of state stressed.

He also set a task to resolve the issue of applying "balanced and socially acceptable approaches" to administrative liability for untimely enlistment of women conscripts until the process of final settlement of the procedure and identification of those professions and qualifications that are really necessary in terms of entrying of women to the military register.

As IMI reported, on December 17, 2021, The Ministry of Defense has approved a list of professions whose representatives will have to register for military ervice. Among them are journalists.

The relevant order of the Ministry of Defense №313 was adopted on October 11, and it came into force on December 17, Ukrinform and ArmyINFORM reported.

The list contains 35 specialties, each of which, in fact, represents dozens of separate specialties of economic activity: from catering, law and economics to publishing and printing. 

Thus, the list includes a large number of popular professions, including doctors, pharmacists, lawyers, programmers, social workers, managers, accountants, journalists, musicians, restaurant and hotel workers, advertisers and more.

For those who evade, there is only administrative liability, including fines of two types.